The Alicante Institute
by The Purple Warlock
Summary: The Alicante Institute wasn't like most schools. It was created for the kids, who, for one reason or another struggled with his mainstream school. Alec Lightwood was a social worker who'd found himself spending most of his work time working with these kids, and knew all too well the extent of the problem. Deciding to take matters into his own hands, he decided to create the school.
1. Chapter 1

***Emma POV***

"Tavvy, have you got everything?" I called to the youngest Blackthorn, as I myself was going through my own bag to make sure I had everything. Even though Tavvy was 16 and fully capable of getting himself too sorted, I still worried about him, still saw him as the toddler he'd been when his parents had died. Not to mention I had essentially become an older sister to the younger Blackthorn and was just a protective sibling. The Blackthorn's mum had died of cancer shortly after Tavvy had been born, and just two years later their father had been stabbed by a gang in a case of mistaken identity. My own parents had died in a boating accident around the same time, so I, along with the rest of the Blackthorns had been sent to live with their Uncle. Their Uncle who didn't have a clue on how to raise children (and was mentally unstable) meaning that the older siblings had to take matters into their own hands.

Although Helen was eighteen and was able to take care of us, she wanted to give her family a better chance, so while she did what she could around the house, she also had a part time job and had gone to University to study Journalism (in her words, she wanted to "report on the things that mattered in the world" which I thought was awesome). Mark had gotten bad for a while, and had gotten caught up with the wrong crowd. He'd met his boyfriend Kieran during those days, and it was Kieran who helped get him out. Kieran hadn't got the best relationship with his family, and made Mark realise what he had, and didn't want to lose. So Mark and Kieran had gotten out and the Blackthorns had gained an extra honorary member of the family.

We struggled but somehow we managed to get through, and were now living "our best lives" as Jules had called it. Jules and I had followed Helen and Mark's example and had gone to University and had graduated as teachers (I taught P.E, Jules taught Art) and had both gotten a job at the Alicante Institute. As we lived on the outskirts of town, we drove Tavvy to his sixth form (Tavvy was the only one not yet at University, (so he stilled lived at the house we'd found ourselves growing up in) but he had dreams of studying illustration. Having learnt that his younger brother had wanted to do an art related job, Jules had gotten slightly emotional).

Back to the present, I'd just finished checking my bag as Tavvy made an appearance clutching his bag. "All good and ready to go. Where's Jules?" he said, by way of a greeting. "Loading his stuff in the boot of the car" I answered, and satisfied I also had everything, Tavvy and I went to join Jules outside. Jules and I had been dating since we were seventeen, but Jules had yet to ask the all-important question. "Hey babe" I greeted and gave him a quick kiss. Tavvy pulled a face going "why do my siblings insist on kissing in front of me?" before getting in the car. Being the youngest, Tavvy had watched his siblings getting into relationships, but he was still didn't like all the PDA's that came with it. Mainly because he was related to one of the people in the relationship.

***Jules P.O.V***

Having dropped Tavvy off at school, Emma and I made our way to work. "Do we have to go to the staff meeting?" Emma groaned, which made me smile. As much as we loved our jobs, and helping those who needed just a little bit extra help in life, there was one part of the job Emma made a point of not enjoying: staff meetings. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy the company of the people she worked with, it was that she didn't like the idea of having to discuss important matters so early in the morning. "Yes Em, we do have to go. I will take it upon myself to make sure you are there" I said. Emma rolled her eyes in response. As it turned out, we pulled into the car park the same time as my older brother Mark, and his wife (Mark had always been indecisive, so when he fell in love with both Kieran, and later Cristina, he'd decided to marry both of them, rather than choose. Seeing as Cristina and Kieran both got on really well, it all worked out well in the end.) "You guys going to the meeting?" Mark called over as we got out the cars.

I nodded, slightly confused by the question. Normally staff meetings just included teaching staff, as considering both Emma and I were teachers, it was a given that we would be there. "Any idea what it's about? Alec wants Tina and me there. Apparently it's an all-staff meeting" Mark added. That surprised me, as all-staff meetings were rare, and normally about one of the children we taught, when concerns were raised. Cristina worked at the school as a counsellor, and Mark as the SEN Co-ordinator (one of our brothers, Ty had been diagnosed with Autism, and Mark had spent a lot of time helping him navigate the world. It had been Ty who had made Mark realise what he wanted to do with his life). I shrugged at my brother then, going "not a clue, I just got told we were having a meeting" I said, as the four of us walked inside.

We didn't have to wait long to find out we would be discussing. Alec, who was the social worker who had set the school up, sat at the end of the desk, with a notebook out in front of him. "Thanks for coming everyone. I wanted to talk to you about something which hopefully you should all enjoy. As you know, we are looking to buy a mini-bus for the school to take the students to trips and various sport and music events, but in order to do so, we need some money. Charlotte (who was the head teacher of the school) and I have been discussing how we are going to gain this money, and we decided that if we arranged some fundraising events, we would be able to raise a large amount of the required money. I will be contacting "Bane Events" to see if they would be able to help, but I was wondering if anyone had any ideas of what we could do" Alec informed us.

"We could do an art show. I myself, and some of the students could create some stuff, and display and sell it" I suggested, and Alec wrote it down in his notepad. "I could ask Clary and Jocelyn if they could contribute to that Jules. I like the idea" he added. Clary was Alec's sister-in law, and Jocelyn was her mum, and both excellent artists. Following my lead, Jem (who was a distant cousin of Emma's and taught music) suggested doing a Battle of the Bands, with both students, and external acts. Again, Alec wrote the suggestion down, and said he'd talk to Simon (his brother-in-law, and was in the band "The Mortal Instruments) to see if he and his band would perform ("well we could have them perform during the voting" Alec had suggested and we all nodded in agreement. Emma had suggested a dodgeball tournament, where people could pay to enter, and again Alec wrote the suggestion. A few more ideas were thrown around before he had to leave as the students would be arriving soon and we would have classes to teach.

***Alec P.O.V***

The meeting for fundraising ideas had gone really well, and I had quite a few ideas to use. As promised, I made a phone call to "Bane Events" who were the biggest events management company in the area, and also considered one of the best. If we could get them involved, it would make things so much easier, for everyone. After a couple of rings, I heard a man answer the call. "Magnus Bane, of "Bane Events" talking, how can I help" and I found myself swallowing hard. Not only was I talking to the guy in charge, but he sounded gorgeous. Trying to get control of myself, I went "oh hi (smooth Lightwood, real smooth) my names Alec Lightwood, and I'm a social worker at Alicante Institute, and I was calling to see if "Bane Events" would be interested in helping us organise a some fundraising events for a new mini-bus" and cringed at how awkward he sounded.

After a long pause, Magnus replied "this is not something I wish to discuss over a phone call. Would you be agreeable to come in for a meeting to discuss this further?" And I could hardly contain my excitement. "Yes of course. When would be a suitable?" I asked, and with that we made plans for a meeting. Considering I wasn't expecting anything to come out of the phone call, I was happy something positive had come out of it. I was so proud of this school and what it had become, and was constantly trying to make it better, so the fact a major company was interested in helping us raise funds for us was incredible.

I spent the rest of the day having meetings, and filling in paperwork, and the less glamourous part of my job. Christina had had a counselling session with one of the students, which had brought up a few things that were concerning, which was how I found myself in a meeting with Cristina, Mark and Diana, (Diana was the Child Protection Officer who worked at the school. The children who came to us brought so many issues it soon became apparent we needed someone full time to deal with it. That's where Diana came in) after most people had gone home. We needed to get things dealt with in as soon as possible, even if meant staying after you technically finished.

Eventually we had a plan we were happy with, and called it a day. I couldn't help but feel slightly jealous of my colleagues then, as they all had people to go home to. Mark and Cristina not only had each other, but they had their husband Kieran. Diana had her long term partner Gwyn, who trained service animals some of the students used. (Some of our students had things like mild autism or anxiety and the difference a service animal made was incredible). I on the other hand, lived alone. I used to live with my sister Izzy and brother Jace but they soon started dating (and later marrying) people so they had long since moved out. I didn't mind the solitude sometimes, but I missed the company, missed having someone to talk to about stuff not related to work.

I spent the evening eating a take-out pizza and sorting my notes for the meeting I was due to have in a couple of days with Magnus. By the angel I knew I needed to make a good impression on the man, to get him and his company as involved as possible, I needed to know what I was talking about. I was nearly done when I got a phone call from my ever-enthusiastic sister. "Alec" she whined down the phone in a tone of voice she only ever used when she wanted something. "What can I help you with dear darling sister?" I replied with, in that annoying voice older brothers used. "I have a fashion event on Saturday, I was wondering if you would be able to make it?" she asked. Typical Izzy, relying on my lack of a social life to invite me to stuff last minute. Izzy was a high end Fashion designer in the city, and was often hosting events to show off her latest creations. I rarely admitted it but I was incredibly proud of her. "I'll have to check my diary to make sure I'm free" I said, and I could almost hear her pouting.

I waited a bit and went "looks like you're in luck, I'm free that day" and despite herself, Izzy laughed. "Oh good, everyone's going to be there. Simon, Jace, Clary, Max and even Mum and Dad are making an appearance" she informed me, which made me raise my eyebrows. Normally it was just siblings and significant others who would turn up at Izzy's events for moral support. Our parents only turned up at the bigger events, but they were slowly getting better. Once upon a time they wouldn't have done at all. "This is big Alec, "Bane Events" is hosting the entire thing, for Fashion Designers to show their products to retailers in order to get a contract" Izzy informed me, and my jaw dropped. There was definitely no way I was missing this event now.

***Diana POV***

I dragged my feet through my front door before dumping my bags on the floor. Today had been long and I just felt tired. I loved my job, I really did, but days like today really drained my and I felt exhausted. Walking into the living room, I saw Gwyn sitting on the floor, holding something. Gwyn worked at a local animal shelter, and would occasionally train service dogs. He had, on several occasions he brought animal's home with him. Most of them were temporary, but some, like the two koi fish (someone had brought them in, and Gwyn had taken one look at them and decided he wanted them, in tribute to the koi fish I had tattooed on my cheek) we had called Luna and Sol.

I had a feeling today was going to be one of those days. "What have you got there then?" I asked, as Gwyn had yet to realise I was home. Gwyn turned, and smiled, holding up a German Shepard Puppy. "She's called Ziggy" he informed me, and I nodded, before kneeling down and scratching the puppy behind the ears going "hey Ziggy" before leaning against Gwyn, he head on his shoulder. "Tough day?" he asked. That's something I lived so much about Gwyn was that he could always tell if I had had a tough day. "Yeah, just one of those days I guess" I said. Gwyn slipped one of his arms round my waist and gently kissed my head. "I'll order us something from the Thai place down the road" he said. By the angel I was in love with this man.

We sat at the table, eating our food, and discussing our days. Gwyn knew there was a lot I couldn't discuss about my job so he talked a lot about his, and we moved onto other topics. "I was thinking we could do something at the weekend, just me and you" he said, and I smiled. I loved having days I could just enjoy Gwyn's company but they happened few and far between. I raised an eyebrow going "and what were you thinking we do?" I asked. He just gave me a smile that made my heart just melt. "Maybe a picnic? We could go to the park?" he suggested and I just beamed. "I'd like that Gwyn, I'd like that a lot" I said.

We didn't do much for the rest of the evening. We finished eating, did the washing up, and played with Ziggy. But that was something I loved about my relationship with Gwyn. We didn't need any flourishes or anything lavish, just each other's company, and whatever we did as a result was just so special. Eventually we both decided to call it a night and went to bed, with me curled up as the little spoon, with Gwyn behind me, his arms protectively wrapped round me making me feel safe and protected. Not to mention it left my neck exposed, and Gwyn was more than happy to kiss it, which only made me melt into him even more.


	2. Chapter 2

***Magnus P.O.V***

It was a general rule of mine to meet with all potential clients before deciding whether or not to organise their event or not, and this was one of the few times I was glad of that rule. I had received a phone call from an Alec Lightwood asking if I would help organise some fundraising for the school he worked for, and I admit it did sound interesting. Most people came to us wanting to plan birthday parties, or balls or fashion shows like the one we had planned for the coming Saturday (not that I was complaining about having to attend) , events to line their own pockets or to work in their own interests. We rarely got asked to do fundraisers so the prospect excited me. Also, I felt like I had heard of his surname before, and the school but not in the same context, but I couldn't place it.

We had decided to meet in a local café called "Sophie's Scones" and it was a personal favourite of mine. It was cosy and felt homely but still had a feel of sophistication about it. I had a lot of time for the owner Sophie. She'd originally been a P.A for a pretentious family, until the son (who seemed to have his head so up his own butt that it was a miracle he could see anything) had taken a fancy to her. Sophie hadn't returned his feelings and had kept rejecting him whilst trying to keep her pride and dignity. One day, he'd made a sexual advance on her, something Sophie hadn't wanted and in her panic, she slapped him. The son was outraged that someone hadn't wanted to sleep with him, and had cut her face open, saying "If I can't have you no one can". Sophie had never shyed away from her scare, and had once admitted that it had helped her, as "at least I know who my real friends are" she'd said.

Having ordered my usual order of an espresso, I sat in my normal corner with a list of questions I had prepared the night before. I was so caught up in my own little bubble that I didn't notice someone had come over until I heard an awkward cough and a voice ask "you aren't Magnus Bane of "Bane Events" are you?". I looked up and was taken away by what I saw. A man in a black, warn shirt and jeans stood in front of me with messy black hair and brilliant blue eyes. "Depends whose asking" I said, trying to compose myself. "I'm Alec Lightwood, of the Alicante Institute. I called you a couple of days ago about your assistance with some fundraising" he said. Yes, I was very glad of my rule of meeting people before deciding to work with them, as he was gorgeous. "Well in that case I'm the man you are looking for. Have you got a drink?" I asked, standing up to shake his hand. Alec nodded "Sophie's just making it now" which made me raise an eyebrow. "You know Sophie?" I asked as we sat down.

"Her husband Gideon teaches Spanish at the Alicante Institute" he explained, just as she brought his black coffee over. I knew Gideon taught Spanish but I didn't know where. "Talking of which, I guess we should discuss this fundraising" I said, and Alec seemed to light up, something I thought was incredibly cute. He explained the purpose of the Alicante Institute (I couldn't help but wish it had existed when I was younger, I had never agreed with school when I was a child) and it was then I realised where I had heard of the school before. "Do you work with Ragnor Fell and Catarina Loss?" I found myself asking (Ragnor had trained as a History teacher, Cat as a children's nurse, and I vaguely remembered them saying they were working at a school that wasn't like most schools) and Alec nodded. "Do you know them?" he asked and I nodded "we were friends as children and grew up together" I explained. They didn't really like to mix their personal and work lives so it's no surprise neither Alec nor I had realised the link.

Turning our conversation back to its original purpose, Alec said "we are aiming to raise money for a mini-bus for the school, which is why I turned to you and your company. My staff team have come up with some ideas…but I don't know how you operate with these sorts of things" Alec said. Most of my clients will either not have a clue, or be incredibly demanding. It was refreshing to have a client who seemed to meet half way, who had ideas but seemed to allow me to have free reign. I leant forward going "how about we have a look at this list and go from there?" I asked, and Alec agreed, pulling out a notepad. We spent the next hour discussing the original ideas, before wrapping the meeting up, and returning to our normal day jobs. My head was brimming with ideas, and of the beautiful man I had just been in a meeting with.

***Dru P.O.V***

"Dddrrruuu" Jaime wined as he flopped onto the sofa across the room from where I was trying to get some work done. I was in my third year of University, studying filmmaking, and was trying to get some work on my dissertation done (I was looking into the horror genre and if people were getting desensitised) but it was very difficult considering one of my best friends was currently lying on the sofa being very annoying. Jaime and Ash were my two best friends, who I had met in my first year of University. Ash was studying Landscape Architecture, and Jaime Criminology and Psychology. Jules hadn't been too impressed when I had informed him that I would be moving into a house with two guys in my second year, but Emma had convinced him that maybe the idea wasn't so terrible after all.

~~~Flashback~~~

"I've decided who I want to have as housemates next year" I announced to Jules and Emma, as I walked into the kitchen, during one of my trips home. Jules looked over his shoulder and raised an eyebrow "and who have you decided then?" he asked. I sat down going "Jaime and Ash" and the look on Jules's face was almost comical. Emma on the other hand didn't seem at all bothered. "Have you started looking for houses yet?" she asked, by which Jules seemed to have recovered himself. "You're moving into a house with a couple of lads?" he asked, and I nodded, not quite seeing the problem. Then again Jules had essentially raised and still saw me as his baby sister, even though I was eighteen.

Emma had taken one look at Jules and had gone "She's happy and she knows them Jules that has to count for something?" and in that moment I was eternally grateful my honorary sister was sticking up for me. If anyone could calm Jules down, it was Emma. "They... they're guys!" Jules managed to get out and Emma laughed, but gently put her hand on my brother's arm. "She can well handle herself Jules, and I'll remind you my best friend is a guy! And anyway, she grew up with us, she can be a ninja warrior if she wanted to be" she said, which as true. Emma was a martial arts instructor when she wasn't teaching P.E and she'd taught me a few things, and I'd gotten quite good at it.

Jules seemed to be relaxing, but Emma's next comment sent him into a panic. Shrugging she just went "And anyway...we'll make sure she has more than enough condoms". I tried to stifle a giggle at my older brother's horrified face and his undignified shriek of "EMMA!" That's the thing with Emma, I often questioned if she actually had a filter in her mind or if she genially just blurted out whatever popped into her mind. If she did have a filter, I really didn't want to know what didn't make it. "But seriously though they are just her guy friends who she knows. Would you want her to end up with some bitchy housemates simply because they were girls?" Emma asked, and Jules finally seemed to admit defeat by going "Well... I suppose not". Emma looked victorious with a "that's what I thought"

"Jaime and Ash seem nice enough, I think they'll look out for Dru if she needs it" Emma added (I had mentioned them quite a bit in the weekly skype calls I had with my family) and little did we know at the time just how true those words were. "And anyway the worst thing they'll probably do is leave their dirty pants on the floor" Emma said, even though Jules seemed to have accepted the situation. As it would turn out, Jaime and Ash were really tidy, so dirty pants were a non-existent problem, much to my relief.

~~~Back to present~~~

"What do you want Jaime?" I asked, even though I had ready had a suspicion that he was bored, and needed to be entertained. "I'm bored" he informed me and I shook my head. "I'm busy Jaime. Be productive and do some research for you dissertation" I said. Jaime was looking into the link between mental health and criminal behaviour which I thought was really cool. "I've been doing that all morning Dru!" Jaime complained and I couldn't help but smile. "Why don't you contact the aliens that abducted you?" Ash asked from the door, and I struggled to keep in a giggle.

Where Ash and I had left school in May, and had started Uni the following September, there was a four year gap between Jaime leaving school and starting Uni, but he refused to tell us where he has been, so Ash and I had decided he had been abducted by aliens, a theory Jaime insists isn't true, but as he won't give us the truth, we just went with it, much to Jaime's annoyance. Jaime sat up and frowned at Ash "I wasn't abducted by aliens Ash!" he said, but Ash just looked at him with his eyebrows raised "suuure you weren't Jaime" and at that point I could no longer hold onto the giggles. "Anyway I'm off the get a few things from the shop, if you're bored you can come with. Dru do you want anything?" Ash went and Jaime just flopped back on the sofa. "Could you get me some more coffee?" I asked. I hadn't cared much for the stuff before becoming a student, but I had developed an addiction to challenge both Jules and Cristina's and that was saying something. Ash wasn't all that impressed with the amount of the stuff I got through.

"I'll agree to that on the basis that you are my best friend" was all Ash said. Jaime just looked at me going "do I have to go?" which made me smile. I nodded going "you are bored and Ash had kindly offered to give you something to do, and I have a lot of work to do and if you stay you will be distracting" I said and Jaime pouted. "The alternative is of course you going back to the aliens" I added, and with a pointed sigh and a roll of the eyes, Jaime left and went with Ash. I managed to get some more work done before I got a skype call from my family. I loved talking to my siblings as they were always they always making my laugh with their general chaos.

Helen and Aline would try and be sensible, asking if I was Ok, and managing with everything. Tavvy always looked done with having to be around Jules and Emma being like an old married couple. Mark, Kieran and Cristina were just three idiots in love and all the madness that came with that. Which basically had Mark interacting with us which Kieran and Cristina alternating between talking and making out with each other. And then there was Livvy, Ty and Kit. Livvy didn't live with the boys but she would go round to their flat to skype. Ty would normally be quiet and take things in, and Kit and Livvy would be their normal, chatty, bubbly selves.

***Kit P.O.V***

Today had just been one of those days. I was the CEO of the company I'd started in University, called "Rook's Nook" which sold a variety of unique and mysterious products. It had been one of those days where I just couldn't seem to get anything done and I just wanted to have a lie down, possibly have a cuddle with when he got home. Ty and I had been dating for about three years and we shared a flat together. Opening the door, I was met with a sight I was not expecting. Ty was sitting on the floor, with a Golden Retriever Puppy on his lap. "Ty why is there a puppy in our flat?" I asked, and that's when Ty looked up with wide eyes. "I couldn't leave her Kit" Ty exclaimed and I sat on the floor next to him and put my arm around my boyfriend. "Tell me what happened Ty" I said softly.

Both Ty and Livvy worked together at the police force. Ty was working towards becoming a detective, and was often put on cases to give him experience (but he never brought any part of his cases home so I was highly confused as to where the puppy had come from. We'd discussed having a puppy but we'd never actually confirmed anything) and Livvy was a "forensic computer analyst" so she told me. I didn't really understand what she did other than the fact she worked with computers for the police, but I knew she enjoyed her job and that to me was what mattered. "I was on a case and we found her abandoned at one of the locations we were investigating. Some of the others wanted to take her to the animal shelter, the one Gwyn works at but I couldn't so once we had a vet check her, I got to keep her" Ty said, and I tightened my arm round him.

To be honest, I shouldn't really have been surprised, when Ty has been younger, he made a regular habit of bringing animals home with him. I'd had my fair share of animals hidden in my room. When I was fifteen, my Dad had been murdered by a gang. Apparently he had made a deal with him, and he'd failed to keep his side of his bargain, and some thugs had turned up at our house "to deal with him" and well, things didn't end well for Dad. But I'd gained a new family in the Blackthorns. I hadn't liked them at first but slowly they had grown on me, and I, like Emma had become an honorary member of the family. And I wouldn't change it for anything. "So it's a she is it?" I asked, and Ty nodded. "I've decided to call her Ruby" Ty informed me and I smiled. Scratching the dog behind the ears I went I found myself being far too much of an adult by asking "do we actually have any stuff for her?"

Ty was about to answer when there was a knocking on the door. Getting up and answering in, I was met with Ty's twin Livvy standing at the door. Livvy did have her own place, but she came round whenever we skyped their younger sister Dru (or whenever she felt like it) not that either of us really minded. "So it's true what they said at work? You gained a puppy" Livvy said as she walked into the flat, and Ty nodded. "We're going to get stuff for her after we've spoken to Dru, you can come with us if you wanted….bring Max if you also want" I said, and Livvy beamed. About six months ago, Livvy had started dating Max Lightwood. She'd known him for years, and apparently he'd had feelings for her for a while, but was too afraid to ask her out. It had been Livvy who had asked him to have a coffee with her and it went from there. "I'll ask him now" she said, and sent him a quick text as I got the laptop ready.

Shortly after the skype call was over, we went out to get stuff for Ruby. Max met us at the shop, and gave Livvy a quick kiss. Shopping for stuff for a puppy with Max, Livvy and Ty was certainly an experience and made me realise just how much I loved the company. Ty being Ty made sure we got things that were practical and sensible, like food, a bed and a grooming kit. But as for Livvy, Max and I? We went a little bit mad and brought all the noisy toys we could possibly find probably annoyed all the other people in the shop, not that we cared. I had a feeling this dog was going to be very well looked after.


	3. Chapter 3

p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;"***Charlotte P.O.V***/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;"Being a Head Teacher was difficult, especially when it came to a school for those who struggled being in mainstream school. I really did love my job and the students I worked with, even if they were a challenge. When Alec arrived at the Alicante Institute, I made a point to speak with him, knowing he'd his meeting the day before with Magnus Banes to ask for their support for organising fundraising for us. Alec hadn't told me anything but I hoped it would be a case of "no news is good news" and he'd gotten carried away with planning rather than the fact Magnus had refused to help. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;"Knocking on his office door, and hearing him say that I could enter, I opened the door and slipped into the room. After the pleasantries were dealt with, I asked "how did the meeting with Magnus go yesterday?" and Alec's face lit up. "Oh it was most successful Charlotte. He agreed to help us almost immediately and we spent the rest of the meeting discussing ideas for fundraising events" he informed me, which made me happy, but I had a feeling there was something Alec wasn't telling me. I had worked with Alec long enough to know the signs. I raised an eyebrow going "there's something else isn't there?" which made Alec blush and confirmed my earlier suspicions. "He might have been attractive" Ale admitted, knowing I would not let the matter drop unless he told me. I smiled, and placed my hand on his arm. "You should make a move on him Alec. You're too much of a nice guy to me single" I said, and Alec gave me a small grin. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;"I left soon after, as I had other things I needed to deal with. Emma had recently raised concerns about some of the students. Emma taught P.E but acknowledged it was a lesson that wasn't particularly liked by a lot of students. As a result she made sure to always encourage the students to do their best, whether it was them pushing themselves and improving their skills, or simply turning up and doing the minimum. She was the sort of teacher who would give pep talks to those who needed it and handed out small bits of chocolate, something her students lived and a habit she had picked up from living with the Blackthorns./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;"Recently, she had become aware of a number of students who seemed to really become self-consious about their bodies. They struggled to change in front of their peers in the changing room, and would either push themselves really hard (in the hope of losing weight) or would hide away and not want to engage. I had encouraged Emma to continue with her pep talks, and made contact with a personal friend of mine: Cecily Herondale. Cecily had studied fashion photography at university, which was how she had later gotten into modelling. She never hide away from what her body looked like and refused to have her body photo shopped in any way./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;"She was passionate about people feeling confident about their bodies and would often do motivational speeches about body positivity. She never made what she said patronising and had a talent for engaging her audience. I hoped that she could be a significant help with those Emma had raised concerns about, as well as the wider student population. I set about contacting Cecily, and much to my relief she agreed to help, and also suggested doing a workshop with some of the students who needed just that little bit more support. Like I said, this was something Cecily was really passionate about and she really out her heart and soul into it./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;"***Izzy P.O.V***/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;"I had been working towards this particular fashion event for months. There were some big retailers that were going to be there and I wanted to make a good impression and get a few contracts for them to either sell or use my designs. Jace's cousin Cecily (Jace was my adopted brother. He'd recently started researching his birth family and had found a couple of cousins: Will, who was an author, and Cecily, who was a model) and had helped me display some of my designs, something I was very grateful for. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;"But the possibility of contracts wasn't just the thing that worried me. My parents were going to be attending and that terrified me. My parents had had a strained relationship, and had recently finalised their divorce. They hadn't had the best relationship with their children, especially with my older brother Alec when he came out as gay. But they were trying, not only to be civilised with each other but to improve their relationship with their children. Which is why they were coming to more of my fashion events. Not just the major ones. It meant that they wanted to be more involved in my life and understand what I did./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;"I found myself pacing round my display area, checking all the details I had checked a hundred times before, to make sure it was perfect. I was so caught up in my own little bubble that I hadn't realised I had company until I felt a hand on my shoulder and Simon's voice going "Iz it looks perfect. As do you". Turning, I found that Simon, Clary, Jace and Alec had all arrived. My parents and Max were arriving together, another sign my parents were trying to put their past behind them and focus on their children. "Thanks Simon" I said as he pulled me into a hug. They all knew what this meant to me, and how much I was grateful for their support. Breaking the hug, Clary looped her arm in mine, asking me to explain the ideas behind what I had created, by means of calming me down, which I very much appreciated./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;"We had just finished when my parents and youngest brother arrived. I took a deep breath, waiting for their judgement. Max promptly gave me a cuddle, and wished me luck, and that his girlfriend Livvy sent her love, whilst my parents took my work in. No matter how many times they did this, it never really got any easier. I could see how Alec tensed on their arrival. It had been his relationship with our parents that had been the most damages, and although they were working hard to embrace his sexuality and repair the damage, the wounds were deep and not easily forgotten. Mum was a civil servant and Dad a Lawyer and they had been more concerned with their son's wellbeing. Thankfully they saw sense and were able to rectify their mistakes before it was too late./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;"Mum came over to me and took my hands in hers. Looking into my eyes she went "I am so proud of you Isabelle. I know I don't always show it but I really am" and I felt a slight lump in my throat. It really meant a lot to me to know I was making my mother proud, to know she approved and acknowledged all my hard work to make it in what I wanted to do. I wasn't able to any more, partly because I was emotional, and partly because people had started walking around and looking at what was on display. Mum gave my hand a quick squeeze before letting me go./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;"The event as it turned out was going a lot better than I had expected, making me realise I really didn't have much to worry about. There were a lot of people interested in what I had created and wanted to make a deal with me, something I was very pleased about. It was near the end of things when I was approached by an unexpected visitor. I hadn't noticed them at first, but caught sight of Alec, who was staring at someone. Turning to see what had caught my brother's attention, I was met by a tall man with glitter on his face and clearly knew a thing or two about style, given the clothes he was wearing. Putting his hand out for me to shake, the stranger introduced himself. "Magnus Bane of "Bane Events". I make it a habit to see how my events turn out. I assume you had no problems?" he said. So this was the mysterious Magnus Bane then?/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;"I shook my head then went "Oh no problems at all. It's been amazing" I said which seemed to please him. Taking a look around he went "as are your pieces" he said, and seemed to want to go and say more but saw Alec and stopped. "Alexander what a pleasant surprise. I wasn't expecting to see you so soon" causing Alec to blush and make me, as well as our family very confused. Sensing everyone's confusion, Alec explained. "Izzy is my sister, so I came with my family to support her" he said, looking at Magnus, then turned to the rest of us going "I had a meeting with Magnus earlier this week, and he has very kindly agreed to help do some fundraising for the Alicante Institute". span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanMagnus stayed a little longer, and before leaving. I'm sure he quietly asked Alec to meet him again, during out of business hours./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;"***Julian P.O.V***/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;"I had been dating Emma for so long that people just assumed we were already married. The only reason we weren't was because I had always been too scared. I had no idea what I had done to deserve Emma in my life and yet here she was and I was terrified that she would find someone better. Not to mention that any ideas I had around proposing to her never seemed good enough. I eventually decided to ask Helen for advice one lunch time, given that she had some experience with proposals. As well as being a Journalist, Helen would help with the school council of the Alicante Institute, and helped with their school magazine. My sister had arrived and was setting up for a school council meeting when I found her. "Helen have you got a couple of minutes?" I asked, awkwardly at the door. Helen seemed to pick up on my nerves as she pulled a chair out and motioned for me to sit./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;"Once I was seated she looked at me with concern in her eyes and asked "Jules is everything alright?" Taking a deep breath I looked at her going "I need your advice. I want to propose to Emma but I'm terrified" I said, causing Helen to pull me into a hug. "Why are you so scared?" she asked, gently taking a seat next to me. I shrugged. "I'm scared I'll get it wrong, but I'm mostly scared that she'll say no, that she'll not want me" I said, and it was the first time I had said my fears out loud. Helen gave me a sympathetic look and put her hand on my arm. "Jules listen to me. I've seen your relationship with grow and develop from strength to strength. I can see how much you love her and how much she loves you. And it's her love for you that makes me doubt she'll reject you" she said./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;"I took a deep breath and glanced at my older sister and asked "how did you know you were ready to propose to Aline?" and her face softened at the memory, a small smile on her face. "I just felt it in my gut. I would think of how we had survived everything that life had thrown at us, at how we were happy and in live and I couldn't imagine life without her" she said. I didn't need to say it out loud that that's how I felt about Emma. "How do you think I should propose to her?" I asked and Helen gave me a small laugh before going "Only you can answer that Jules. But if you want my advice, do it in a way that will mean something to both you and Emma. Don't over rehears it. Just follow your heart that will guide you well" she said, and I nodded. Thanking her, I left thinking about what she had said. By the end of the day, I had a good idea of how I was going to propose./span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;"I spent the next few days spending as much time as I could in my private studio. I was quite open with my family but they all accepted that my studio was private and off limits. Having sketched a few ideas, I finally had a design I liked and set about painting it. The final product was better than anything I had imagined: It was Emma in a simple yet elegant white dress, with a gold band on her left hand. Once I had finished the painting, I went out to get the all-important ring, telling Emma I was simply getting art supplies. The following evening, when Emma was out at one of her martial arts classes, I took the painting to a small beach Emma and I had spent a lot of time, having left a not for her there and I waited. /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;"Just as the nerves started getting the better of me, Emma arrived. It was now or never, with no turning back. "Jules what's all this….oh" she said as she arrived and saw her painting. I watched her face as she took all the details in, then as her eyes settled on the gold ring. "Julian" was all she managed to get out. I took a deep breath as I stood next to her. "Emma I have loved you for so long I can't remember not being in love with you. You're my girlfriend and my best friend and you have stayed with me and my own siblings as our lives were falling apart, even though you were suffering yourself and I can't explain how grateful I am for that. You are so beautiful and funny and brave and you can do so much better than me but yet you've stuck by me, even when I get paint in my hair."/span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Arial',sans-serif;"I got the box with the ring in it out of my pocket and opened it, then went down on one knee. "Emma Cordelia Carstairs I love you more than life itself, and I can't imagine a life without you in it. Will you do me the honour of marrying me, and becoming my wife?" I asked. The words were out, and I could see the tears forming in her eyes. I would remember what she said for the rest of my life. "You have no idea how long I have waited for you to say that. Yes Julian Blackthorn I will marry you" and despite myself I found myself just going "really?" Emma thankfully found it amusing and nodded going "yes really" and it was all I needed to slip the ring onto her finger, stand up and kissed my fiancée. Being able to call Emma that was certainly going to take some getting used to./span/p 


	4. Chapter 4

***Diana P.O.V***

When I woke up on Saturday I found myself feeling excited. Gwyn was still fast asleep with his arms wrapped around me, so I snuggled up into him and enjoyed feeling him close to me. I knew when Gwyn had woken up as his arms tighten around my middle and him press a kiss to my neck. We stayed like that for a moment simply enjoying each other's company. "Looking forward to the date later?" Gwyn asked and I smiled. The picnic he had suggested earlier in the week had literally kept me going for the last few days. Gwyn had planned everything and had sorted all the food out, meaning I hadn't needed to worry about a thing. "Of course I am, how could I not be?" I said, which got me another kiss on the neck from Gwyn.

Eventually we got round to getting up and ready for the day, and as much as I didn't want to get out of bed, I couldn't exactly go to the park in my pyjamas so I knew I had to actually put some proper clothes on. Having changed, and Gwyn was able to gather the last few things together, we set of to the park. As much as Gwyn and I tried to make time for each other, like we were doing today, we didn't always manage it meaning that days were we actually went out and did stuff were even more special. Eventually we had arrived at the park, and found a spot by a pond and Gwyn set out a blanket for us to sit on.

We just stayed there for a bit, lying down cuddling, and just talking about whatever came into our heads. We would have stayed like that for longer had my stomach not started making weird gurgling noises, indicating that it was hungry and required feeding, making us both laugh. Sitting up, Gwyn opened up the basket he had brought with us, and revealed an assortment of food, all of which looked delicious. He'd even brought a bottle of wine, and for some reason this made me giggle. We ate until we couldn't eat anymore, which was when Gwyn picked up a couple of small packs out of his bag, making me look at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I was thinking we could feed some of the ducks" Gwyn explained, and looked slightly embarrassed. Leaning forward, I gave him a soft kiss on the lips, before going "I'd like that". Gwyn, being the gentleman, stood up and put his hand out for me, helping me up. Taking one of Gwyn's packets, we walked hand in hand to the pond we had been sitting by, and fed the ducks. It made me feel like a child, and I loved it.

***Magnus P.O.V***

Having seen Alec again at his sister's fashion event, it had confirmed what I had originally felt, the first time we had met. That I wanted to see more of him outside of work. He was a beautiful human being and I had a feeling that there was more to Alexander Lightwood than just good looks and black clothing. I made it my mission to make this happen, and much to my surprise it didn't take much, I thought it would have been more of a challenge than it actually was. I had suggested he come to mine for a couple of cocktails, and much to my surprise he accepted. There was a part of me that thought he was straight, even though I knew it was wrong to assume things like that.

I'd just finished making sure that everything was ready, when the doorbell went and I found myself grinning. I had dated a few people on and off, but there was something that felt different about this, but I could not quite place what it was exactly. Opening the door, I was met with an Alec awkwardly clutching a bottle of wine, which he handed over. "My sister said it was customary to bring something so I got this" he said, blushing. God he was adorable. Taking the wine from him, I stepped aside to let him in, and closed the door. "You should listen to your sister more often" I said as I inspected the bottle. It was a good choice of wine, but not a good choice of drink for a cocktail night.

Once Alec had gotten himself sorted, I brought him through to my front room, and got him seated, I went to get us a couple of cocktails (I decided to start with Pina Coladas, because they were my personal favourites) and handed a glass. "So tell me about yourself Alexander" I said, taking a sip of my drink. Alec shrugged going "its Alec….What do you want to know?" which made me smile. "I prefer Alexander, I think it suits you better. And I'll take whatever you want to say. Seeing as I briefly met some of your family already, why don't you start with them?" I asked, and Alec visibly relaxed. Clearly his family was a safe topic and one he was happy to talk about.

"Well there's my younger sister Isabelle, or Izzy as she prefers to go by. She's the one who was at the fashion event you organised. She's the sort of person who never goes anywhere without her heals and can make anything look good. She's married to a guy called Simon, who's in a band. He's a bit geeky but he's a good man for my sister" he started. I knew what he meant by Izzy and her clothes, she had good taste and I had a feeling she was the sort of person I would get on well with. "There's also Jace, one of my younger brothers. He got adopted by my parents when he was ten, but despite a bit of a rough start, we're really close. He's a personal trainer, and recently married his childhood sweetheart Clary, who is a really good artist". I went through the group I had met and realised who Jace must have been: the blonde who looked like he spent too much time in the gym. Well it made sense if he was a personal trainer. It looked like Alec must have made the most of his brother's profession.

"Finally there's Max, the youngest. He does animation for an independent film studio and recently started dating someone called Livvy. She does something with computers for the police. I don't really get it, but Max seems happy with her and that's more important than understanding her job" Alec finished and took a sip of his drink. There was a slight pause, and I expect him to start talking about his parents, having covered his siblings. When he didn't start talking again, my curiosity got the better of me. "What about your parents? They were there weren't they?" I asked and Alec glanced at his lap. I suddenly realised his parents might be a more difficult subject than his siblings and I felt bad for asking.

"They were cool growing up, making sure we all went to a good school and did well but things changed when I realised I liked guys, and not in a platonic way and came out as gay. Izzy, Jace and Max were all really chill about it. They just said I was still their brother, gay or not. But my parents? They were more concerned with how having a gay son would have an impact of their career than about my wellbeing. They avoided talking about it, with the exception of my Dad asking me what had turned me gay and going "how do you know you aren't attracted to girls when you haven't dated one?" I was made to feel dirty for my sexuality. I left to go to University and my parents never asked how I was doing, and they outright said not to bother come home for the holidays, so I didn't" he said, and he took a deep breath.

I felt sick, how could parents not care for their child, just because they weren't straight? Alec continued talking "thankfully my siblings visited as much as they could, and let me know I still had family that cared. They were the ones who came to my graduation, where my parents didn't even acknowledge it. I started to work as a Social Worker, wanting to make sure nobody felt alone and had a loving family. I later went on to start the Alicante Institute and my parents finally realised I was more than my sexuality and made attempts to repair their relationship with me, and my siblings. Apparently because Izzy, Jace and Max had supported me, it had caused problems with our parents. We have a long way to go but we have made a start" Alec finished. He'd opened himself up to me and it had taken me by surprise.

"But enough about my family, what about yours?" Alec asked. He'd been honest with me, so I decided to be honest with him. Like I said, things felt different with Alec, not like they had with the other flings I'd had. "I don't have a family, not really. My mother had fallen in love with a man, and they had a short relationship. She fell pregnant with me, and once my father learnt she was pregnant with his child he ran away and was never seen again. My mother quickly entered into a marriage of convenience. Where we lived, it was frowned upon for an unmarried woman to be pregnant so she married the only person who would take her. But my step-father was abusive and my mother, unable to take it anymore took her own life. My step-father decided he wanted nothing to do with me and put me into the care system as soon as he could, which was where I grew up. I had to make myself the person I am today, because I didn't have the support network most people have" I said.

We sat in silence, going over what we had both admitted, and quite quickly we finished our drinks. Deciding to lighten the mood, I got us some more drinks, I started talking about safer topics: the books we enjoyed reading, the TV shows we were watching and things we wanted to achieve before we died. I admitted I was fluent in Spanish, and regularly visited Peru, and Alec confessed he'd never had a real relationship before. A couple of drinks later, we found ourselves getting onto deeper topics: the weirdest dreams we'd ever had, did we think that aliens existed, and whether or not we believed in ghosts. When we had really started feeling the effects of the alcohol, one of my favourite songs (Reggaeton lento by CNCO) came on, and I decided it would be a really good idea to dance to it. Standing up, I turned to Alec going "dance with me" causing Alec to look horrified and shake his head.

"I don't…no can't dance" Alec said which made me laugh for some reason. "Can't or won't" I challenged and Alec was immediate with his answer of "both!" which made me laugh even more. Despite his protests, I pulled Alec up and pulled him into an awkward dance and despite himself, Alec found himself smiling, but I don't know if that was because of the dancing, or our proximity. "See you are dancing!" I exclaimed and Alec laughed. "Only because you are helping" he protested just as the song came to an end. We attempted to dance for a few more songs before Alec caught sight of the time, and decided to leave. "I enjoyed myself tonight" I said, at the door. Alec looked at me and smiled going "so did I, it was fun" and despite myself, I leant forward and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. Alec looked at me with his surprise clear on his face. He blurted out a "thank you" then he realised what he'd said, quickly said his goodbyes, and left. I smiled as I watched him go. Yes, Alexander Lightwood was going to be different.

***Ash P.O.V***

I was back in my old room. My Dad was screaming at me for something and I was crying. Dad hated me crying and it often made him get violent with me. So it was no surprise when he slapped me across the face then started shaking me intently. I heard my name being said, over and over again. I then realised that it was someone else saying my name, and shaking me awake. Opening my eyes, I saw Jaime standing over me, with a look of concern on his face. I felt sick, I was very private about my nightmares and didn't even admit to having them, so the fact Jaime had seen me have one made me feel terrible. I sat up then, and felt the tears running down my face.

Jaime sat on my bed and looked at me. "I was coming back from the toilet and heard you crying out. I came to check on you because I was concerned about you, and realised you were having a nightmare so I decided to wake you up. Do you want to talk about it?" he explained. I stared at my lap, thinking. Jaime and Dru were my best friends and I trusted them, but I hadn't told them my biggest secret. I knew the other two had nightmares as they actually dealt with them by talking about them. "You don't have to and I won't tell Dru if you don't want me to" Jaime said reassured me. Jaime had trusted me with his secrets, and I knew I could not keep this inside me forever. "I'll tell you, and you can tell Dru, just don't it in front of me" I said and Jaime promised me that he'd respect that. I switched on my lamp, and started talking.

"My Father was a man called Sebastian Morgenstern. He was very much a Jekyll and Hyde sort of person. When Mum was around, he was very affectionate and loving to her, and he well, put on an act around me. Because Mum has to travel a lot for work (she did travel documentaries and was a professional photographer) she wasn't always around. As soon as Mum was out the door, Sebastian would turn into a monster. He shouted a lot, and tried to make me keep to impossible, and sometimes contradictory standards, just to see me fail. He would also turn violent when I couldn't keep to these standards. I would be on the receiving end of his violent anger on a regular basis. But he would only hurt me on places that could be hidden so no one would know. He was in a gang, and would often have them round ours when mum was away. She earned loads so could afford a nice house and nice things, but Sebastian claimed he'd paid for it all".

I could see the anger on Jaime's face at my words, but thankfully he remained silent and allowed me to continue to talk. "He'd allow his gang members to boss me around and beat me if I didn't do something to their liking and they took advantage of this, and hurt me regularly. Sebastian was murdered a few years ago, and that's when Mum learnt about his involvement with a violent criminal gang and was furious. I stopped calling him Dad after that, only Sebastian, not that I ever talked about him. It's been me and Mum ever since and things have gotten better. One of the reasons I came to university was to be able to get a good job and prove I wasn't going to sponge of my rich mum and was more than the son of a violent criminal" I said, suddenly feeling very exposed and vulnerable now my past was out in the open.

Jaime looked at me then going "you didn't need to come to university to prove that Ash. No one could be convinced you'd turn out like that….monster" he said and moved and put his arm round my shoulders, giving me a squeeze. "I cannot say how sorry I am that this happened to you" I said and I shrugged. "Why? You weren't the abusive one" I said and Jaime squeeze my shoulders again. I found myself leaning into him, desperately needing his comfort. "I know but you are my friend and I don't like thinking of you being hurt" he said and after a slight pause, he added "have you ever told you mum what he did to you?" he asked and I shook my head. I had always wanted to but never felt like I could. "No. When he was alive, he was always so affectionate to her I knew she would never believe me. And when he died, Mum and already suffered two massive shocks: her husband had been murdered and had been a violent criminal gang leader. I couldn't add to that by saying he had also abused her son. So I didn't. And we were both quite happy to pretend he had never existed" I said.

There was another pause and Jaime was clearly choosing the right words to say. "I think that talking to your Mum will help. Not only will it act as closure for you but you're her son, and she deserves to know" he said. He was right of course but it didn't make the prospect any less scary. We talked a bit more and then tried to get some more sleep. As promised, Jaime told Dru the following day, whilst I was out, working on a project. On my return, Dru gave me a massive hug and they both said that if I ever had another nightmare, I could come to their room and sleep in their bed, with them hugging me if I wanted to, and I could always talk to them about stuff. They also stayed in the room with me as I skyped my mum and told her the truth. It was difficult but like Jaime had said, things started to get better after that.


	5. Chapter 5

***Cecily P.O.V***

Charlotte had asked me to do a speech and a workshop on body positivity as she, and another member of staff had concerns about some of the students who attended the school they both worked at. As Charlotte was a good friend of mine, and body positivity was something I was passionate about, I had immediately agreed, and had spent the last few days planning what I was going to say and do. I had so many ideas and I needed to work them into something I could work with and was appropriate for the people I would be working with. I was so caught up in what I was doing that I hadn't realised Gabriel had come home until he gently place a hand on my back, and made me jump.

"Good day at work?" I asked, and gently kissed him. Gabriel was a politician for the council and was in charge of all the budgets and finance. He worked hard at his job and knew he had a lot to prove. He'd come from a family of influential high achievers with a lot of wealth, which meant there was a lot of pressure on him to do well. He'd gotten a lot of backlash for marrying me, as I was a model, and people said he'd only done it for the press pictures, and he'd get a divorce as soon as I stopped being attractive. I, along with are friends and family knew that wasn't true and eventually we all stopped caring about what people said. "The usual. People annoyed me and wanted to see more money in their bank accounts than actually putting it to good use. But I'd rather here what you've been up to today before you go and have your girly time with your friends" he said, getting another kiss from me.

So I filled him in whilst I made us some food. Gabriel tried to help but he was a hopeless cook, so I simply said he could help me by giving me his company and make sure I didn't get lonely. Once I had served up, and we had finished eating, I left Gabriel to do the washing up as I got ready to go out. Izzy Lightwood and Jessamine Lovelace were more than my work colleagues (Izzy designed clothes, and Jessamine photographed and advertised them) they were two of my closest friends. Once a month we'd meet up and just have a really girly night, and this time, we were going to be at Izzy's house.

Jessamine had already arrived at Izzy's when I did, so we were all ready to go when I had gotten myself sorted. We watched a rom-com and once it was over we found ourselves talking about our own relationships. Izzy and I were already married, and were often talking about our husbands. Jessamine would normally just get emotionally invested in our love lives so it was a surprise when she admitted that not only was she dating someone but had been for a while. "He's called Nate" she informed us which caught my interest. "What's his surname?" I asked, trying to sound really casual. "Gray" Jessamine said, and this time I could not hide my reaction. "He's not the Nate Gray that is the brother of Tessa?" I asked, and Jessamine confirmed it was.

Tessa was married to my brother, and she didn't really talk about her brother very often, but when she did, she didn't really give a good impression of him. Tessa and her brother had grown up poor with her aunt. Nate had ended up with a gambling addiction, something which drove Tessa and her Aunt to despair. After her Aunt had died, the siblings what they could to earn money, and managed to turn things around. Nate had decided he very much liked money and had trained to become an accountant, whereas Tessa had used her love of books to become an English Teacher. From what I had heard from Tessa, she hadn't seen her brother in several years, not that she was particularly upset about it.

"What's he like?" I asked slowly. I didn't know what Jessamine knew of Nate and I wasn't going to go saying things until I had heard from Jessamine. "Oh at first things were wonderful. He was so loving and we got on really well. But things slowly started changing. He spent more time at work, and bringing work home with him. I think he had taken on a new client and they paid him very well. He seemed to care more about making money than spending time with me" Jessamine said and my heart ached for my friend. I couldn't imagine being in a relationship with someone who seemed to care about material things more than me. I had a feeling that there was something Jessamine hadn't told us, and Izzy it seemed had picked up on that and, having squeezed her friend's hand, went "there is something else isn't there Jessie?"

Taking a breath Jessamine started talking again. "One night Nate had a friend round, someone he used to work with called Axel Mortmain. Axel works as an Industrial Engineer and Nate used to be his accountant and even after they went their separate ways they remained friends. Anyway I overheard some of their conversation, and Nate admitted that he was only dating me for my inheritance, and planned to use it to help him get back at Tessa, who he hasn't forgiving for getting to involved with his gambling. I left after that so I didn't hear the rest of the conversation" and I could feel the anger rise up inside of me. Nate was not only using one of my dearest friend for her money, but planned to use that money to get at my sister-in-law for helping him. It seemed Izzy was also angry at what Jessamine had said, and like me, her anger was aimed at Nate rather than Jessamine. "I hope you've confronted him and broke up" Izzy exclaimed and Jessamine sadly shook her head.

"That would mean I would have to admit that I had eavesdropped on a conversation I wasn't supposed to hear" Jessamine said and I guessed that was true, even though I desperately wanted Jessamine out of the relationship she was currently in. She deserved so much better. "You can break up with him as you aren't enjoying being with him anymore. You can say that if he values the amount of money in his wage packet more than you then you want out" Izzy said and I could see the reluctance in Jessamine's eyes and I realised something. "You still love him don't you" I asked gently and Jessamine looked at me with wide eyes. "Maybe a little. I keep thinking about how things were at the start of our relationship and I think that there is a part of me that hopes things will go back to how they were" she confessed. Things suddenly got a whole lot more complicated. Izzy and I spent the rest of the evening convincing Jessamine she deserved better and how she could end things with Nate, because that's the friendship we had. We always had each other's back and wanted the best for each other.

***Cristina P.O.V***

For the last couple of months, Kieran and I had been trying for a baby. We had expected to take a while for me to fall pregnant, so when my period was late, it had caught me out and had taken me by surprise. I didn't want to get my hopes up as I brought a pregnancy test and went home to use it. Mark was visiting his sister Helen, and Kieran was on his way home from work. Kieran's main job combined his love for animals and water as he worked as a Marine Biologist. He was also an occasional lifeguard and swimming teacher, which he loved. The three minutes it took for the pregnancy test to show a result was honestly it was the longest three minutes of my life. After what felt like an eternity, the three minutes were over, and I was able to check the test. Taking a deep breath, I picked the test up and took a look at the screen, to find two lines looking back at me. I was pregnant.

I was so excited and I could not wait to tell Kieran the news. Knowing he would nearly be home, I went downstairs and made two mugs of tea. I could have made a big thing of the announcement but I couldn't wait long enough to get an idea together so decided to just tell Kieran. Hearing him come in through the front door, I took a deep breath and took control of my facial expressions, and went to meet him. Having got a gentle kiss from him, I took his hand going "can I talk to you in the kitchen?" and he nodded. Having handed him a mug of tea and taken a seat, I decided to just the words that wanted to say. "Kier, you know how we've been trying for a baby?" I started and Kieran nodded at me, his eyes never leaving my face.

"Well I realised that my period was late, which it never is so I took a pregnancy test earlier" I added and I could see the realisation dawn on Kieran's face, that he had worked out what were the conversation was going. "And?" he asked, not wanting to get ahead of himself. I couldn't keep the smile off my face when I went "It came up positive. I'm pregnant Kier, we're going to have a baby" and in that moment so many emotions crossed Kieran's face. There was joy and excitement but also some fear and surprise as well. "I'm going to be a Dad" he whispered, and I took one of his hands in mine going "yes Kier, you going to be a Dad". Kieran got up and walked over to me, dropped his head and kissed me, pouring all his emotions into that kiss that he couldn't say with words. I knew Kieran had wanted a child for a long time and now that was finally going to happen.

When Mark finally returned home, I had Kieran beside me, practically exploding with all the excitement he had inside, meaning that Mark immediately knew something was up. I decided to come straight out with by going "Mark, I'm pregnant" which cause Mark to simply beam. He looked at me then and went "a baby Tina, a real baby" making us all laugh. I cupped his face then and kissed him going "yes Mark I'm having a real baby" and pulled him in for another kiss. I could see just how thrilled Mark was at the prospect of a child. Kieran looked at Mark and went "can you believe? A real baby!" making us laugh again. Clearly my husbands were having a tough time coming to terms with the idea that I was having a real baby.

Mark's next comment seemed to have a huge impact on Kieran as he went "you're going to be a daddy Kieran" causing Kieran to promptly burst into tears with the emotion of it all, with Mark and I following soon after. There was a lot of hugging and kissing in that moment but somehow we managed to calm ourselves down emotionally. Kneeling down on the floor, Kieran kissed my tummy and then rested his forehead on it, going "hey baby I'm your Daddy" which only made me fall even more in love with him, something I never thought would be possible given just how much I loved both him and Mark.

***Emma P.O.V***

I had almost come to the acceptance the fact that Jules was never going to propose to me, so I had been completely taken by surprise when he actually got down on one knee and proposed to me. But it had been a very pleasant surprise to put it mildly. I was delighted that I was engaged to the love of my life and I had a ring to prove it. The ring itself was beautiful and I couldn't take my eyes off it. It was a simple design but that just added to its elegance. It was silver band with a blue opal gem in its centre, with a small diamond on either side. Jules had awkwardly asked me if I had liked it, and I had kissed him saying that I loved it.

Having gotten back home, we were met with Tavvy, who was sitting in the front room, working on some coursework. He glanced up and saw us with our arms round each other giggling. "You two seem happy" he commented, and after silently glancing at Jules who nodded slightly, I went "so would you if you had just gotten engaged" which caused Tavvy to smile and come over and hug us both. He then took a step back at looked at Jules going "it's about time you asked her to marry you" before going back to his coursework, making both Jules and I laugh.

Sending a message to our family group chat asking if they could skype, I sat next to Jules on the sofa cuddling him. I felt like I was on the top of the world and nothing could bring me down. When everyone said they could we started the call, and there was a nervous excitement in the room from both of us. Seeing the various faces of our family appear on the screen seemed to only increase the emotion in the room. "Guys we have something to tell you" I said when everyone was ready, and I looked at Jules, allowing him to continue. There was a pause, then he went "I proposed to Emma" he said and I could see the excited smiles on everyone's faces. I held up my left hand to show my ring going "and I said yes!" Both Dru and Livvy started screaming in excitement with the rest of them all saying their congratulations.

Once the initial excitement, Dru burst out laughing, saying that Jaime had been in the room, and he was currently looking very confused at her as she had suddenly started jumping around and screaming. Almost on cue, Jaime appeared behind Dru shouting "I don't know what you said but Dru seems very happy about it, either that or she's crazy" causing us all to laugh and Dru to scowl at Jaime. Then the questions started coming on how exactly Jules had proposed and we took it in turns to tell the story. Just before we ended the call, Cristina suggested we met after work the following day and I agreed. I spent the evening in the arms cuddling my fiancé.

The following day, as agreed, I met up with Cristina. I had no idea what this was about but I was never one to say no to Cristina. "I have news of my own but I'm not ready to tell everyone just yet" Cristina informed me as she linked her arm with mine. I looked at her with a raised eyebrow, and allowed her to continue talking. "Kieran and I have been trying for a baby. We didn't tell anyone apart from Mark because we didn't want to get peoples hopes up or have to deal with the constant "are you pregnant yet?" question. But yesterday I noticed my period was late which isn't normal for me, so I took a pregnancy test and it came up positive" and despite the fact we were in the middle of the street I screamed and hugged her. "Oh Tina that is wonderful news" I exclaimed, and it really was. It seemed we has both had a good day the day before.


	6. Chapter 6

***Dru P.O.V***

The last few days had been a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. Jaime had told me what had happened to Ash during his childhood and the abuse that he had suffered from the hands of his father and his gang, and his absent mother. I had wept for my friend who hadn't known much love when he had needed it the most. Sure he had been close to him Mum when she had been around, but he'd always had to keep a distance, and even after his father's murder, she had continued to travel. Apparently not wanting to be in a house that reminded her of his betrayal, so she had continued to travel, not taking into account how Ash might be struggling. But Ash had Jaime and me now, and we loved him as our friend.

It was obvious Ash was still getting used to people who constantly cared about him, and we knew there was a lot of work to do. We made sure he knew he always had us, and that he could talk to us if he needed. And if it was a really bad one, he could always sleep in one of our beds, for a cuddle (totally platonically, Ash was our friend, nothing more). Jaime convinced Ash to tell his Mum what he had endured as a child, and we stayed in the room as he did. It was difficult to watch as it was obvious just how much it was hurting him, but afterwards he said he felt like a weight had been lifted, which I was happy about.

The next day, Emma and Jules had skyped the family to announce their engagement, and Jaime (who had been in the room with us) had laughed at my somewhat enthusiastic reaction to the news. Jules and Emma had been in love for years and I was so pleased that he had finally asked Emma to marry him and she had accepted. I knew their wedding was going to be beautiful already and nobody had started planning it. Jules had messaged me asking if I wanted to come home for a short visit and of course I had accepted his offer. As much as I loved living with Jaime and Ash, I missed my family and wanted to see them in real life, and not just on my laptop screen.

Jaime and Ash had walked me to the train station and had hugged me before sending me on my travels. Jaime ran down the station waving as my train started to pull out of the station, making me laugh. As I had a couple of hours before I arrived at my destination, I pulled my laptop out, put my headphones on and got some writing on my dissertation done. Ash had text me saying Jaime was already annoying him, and I was mean for leaving him alone with him, making me laugh. I promised I would be back before they knew it.

Getting close to my station, I text Jules to let him know and packed my stuff up ready. Getting off the train, I saw Jules, Tavvy and Emma waiting for me and I smiled. Emma spotted me and waved, yelling my name. I waved back, just as Jules ran over, picked me up and sun me around. "Missed me?" I asked when he place me on solid ground and he looked me straight in the eye promptly going "No" before we both laughed. Grabbing my bag, Jules and I returned to the other two. Tavvy pulled me into a gig hug, then let me go so I could hug Emma. "Let's see this ring properly" I said when we broke, and Emma was more than happy to oblige. "Oh it's gorgeous" I said and hugged her again. "I'm so happy for you" I informed them.

We walked to the car, and Tavvy started telling me about an art project he was working on, and I could see the pride on Jules's face as our youngest brother spoke. Jules had always encouraged us to be artistic, and were we had all done our own thing, it was Tavvy who had really taken after Jules, with his dream of being an illustrator. When we got home, there were a few cars parked outside. I shouldn't really have been surprised, our family was really close and would make the effort to get together as much as we could. I had hardly gotten through the door before I found myself in a hug sandwich, courtesy of our oldest sibling, Mark and Helen. I was then promptly dragged off by Livvy for a "sisterly catch up" meaning I just had to shout my greetings to everyone else.

That evening once everyone had gone, I went to talk to Jules. I wanted to do something for Ash to show that I had his back but I needed my brother to help me. "Jules can you help me with something" I said, getting his attention. There was a look of concern on Jules's face which I should have expected really. Jules had basically raised us, and was still constantly looking out for us. "I want to bake some cakes for Ash but I can't bake to save my life. Cooking I can do, but baking baffles me" I said, and I could see the confusion on Jules's face. I wasn't going to tell the truth as to why I wanted to bake my friend cake, it was Ash's secret he had decided to let me and Jaime know, which had taken a lot for him (as he had always believed that no one would believe him, and it was a difficult thing to talk about) and I was not going to betray his trust and privacy.

"It's just, he's under so much pressure to do well. He's and only child so feels like all his mum's expectations for a successful child are his burden to carry alone. He's working himself so hard and I want to give him something to show that he has someone looking out for him" I said, and although there was truth in my words, it wasn't the whole truth. Ash had put himself under pressure to do well, partly to make his mum proud but mainly because I really wanted to become a Landscape Architect and earn his own way in life, to show he wasn't going to live to people's expectations of him, a rich boy living on his mother's wealth and the son of a violent criminal.

Jules smiled then, going "sounds like he's under a lot of stress, so it's good he has friends like you. What cake shall we make him?" which made me hug my brother. "Thanks Jules. And I want to make him a chocolate cake, it's his favourite" I said. I was so grateful that Jules had agreed to help me. Jules even went as far as finding a recipe and brought all the ingredients ready. I found baking with Jules to be a lot more fun than what I was expecting and regretted I hadn't done it more when I was younger. When we finished, the cake looked incredible and I knew Ash would love it. The only thing that worried me was getting it safely to Ash. Thankfully I managed it, and I wished I had taken a photo of his face when I gave it to him. We spent the evening eating cake, and it tasted as good as it looked.

***Kieran P.O.V***

I had been an emotional mess since finding out that Cristina was pregnant and I was going to be a father. I was delighted of course, but my own father had been horrific and I was terrified that I was going to like him, and my child would grow to hate me, like I had grown to hate my own. My father was a business director and his company was a prime example of a corrupt organisation. Unfortunately he had run our family like he had run his company, making my childhood cold and lacked in any sort of family love and support. Mark, and later Cristina had been the first people to really show me love, and the Blackthorns had accepted me as part of their family, realising that my relationship with their brother was serious. It finally felt like I belonged somewhere, and I didn't want my child to go through that.

I found myself curled up against Mark, sharing my insecurities with him. "What if they hate me? I never loved my father, so why should my child love me?" I asked and felt Mark tighten his arm around me. "You are not your father Kier. If you opened him up you'd see he was born without a heart, whereas you? You have a heart and it is so full of love that you will love this child with everything that you have, and they will love you in return. They will not have the childhood you had" he told me, and although I wanted to, I struggled to believe his words. "They say you parent as your parents did. My mother died when I was two, and my father well…you know what he was like" I said, and there was a pause, with Mark clearly choosing his words carefully.

"I think you do learn from your parents when it comes to raising children, but I do not think you copy their parenting styles. Your father basically neglected you, leaving you to fend for yourself and turned a blind eye when your brothers tormented you. You'll view that experience and make sure this child never knows what that is like. They will know they have a father who loves them and can that they can rely on" he said. I knew his words were true, but I still felt my insecurities in my heart. It was then Cristina slipped into our room, and lay on our bed, resting her head on my heart. "Is everything Ok?" she asked, and I couldn't bring myself to lie. "Mark was reassuring me that I wasn't going to turn into my father when this child is born, and have them grow up hating me" I confessed.

Cristina sat up and looked at me, her eyes wide. "Kier you can't possibly think that" she exclaimed and when I didn't reply, she simply went "you will be an excellent father Kier I promise" then leant down to kiss me, before resuming her earlier position. My arm slipped round her, and my hand ended up resting on her belly were our child was starting to grow, and would continue to do so for the next nine months. We stayed like that, all cuddled together until we eventually fell asleep, my insecurities haven gotten that little bit smaller than they had been before.

***Helen P.O.V***

I'd had one of those days in which I'd been both productive and highly annoyed at the same time by people's stupidity and I was just looking forward to going home and be with my wife. I'd been researching an article I was going to write, on people's views on homophobia as a hate crime, and it and angered me on some people's backwards views on the LGBTQ+ community, but I guess that's why I did what I did, to report on and highlight such things and hopefully make a difference in the world. Aline had been at home doing…well whatever it was that she did. I don't think Aline knew what she did, but I loved her regardless. She would alternate between making sculptures (I was often the inspiration, not that I was complaining) and writing a collection of philosophical essays she planned to turn into a book. I was one of a select minority that knew of the book. Her current essay was on her views and theories in regarding being in love, and what it was.

Coming through the door, I called out that I was home, and when there wasn't a reply, I had a feeling something was wrong. The reason Aline didn't really discuss her essays was because she'd have regular sessions of doubting herself and thinking her work was horrific. I had seen a number of these moments and I hated seeing her so upset. Going upstairs and into our bedroom, I found Aline curled up on the bed crying. Dumping my bag on the floor, I climbed onto the bed behind Aline, and held her close to me. "Baby what happened" I said, rubbing my thumb across her knuckles. "I can't do it. Everything I write is awful" Aline informed me, and I gave her a comforting squeeze before replying.

"You are brilliant baby, and everything you produce it either a piece of genius or a work of beauty, just like you. You can do this I know you can, because you can do anything, I believe in you" I said and I meant every word I said, and would keep saying it until she believed me. She turned so she was facing me, and looked at me with watery eyes. "What did I do to deserve you?" she asked, lacing her hands through my blonde curls. I kissed her then going "by being the goddess that you are" which made her laugh. "Tell me something good" she whispered, and that's when I remembered a phone call I'd had with Jules earlier in the day when he was on his lunch break.

"Jules called me earlier. He wanted to know what your organization skills were like" I said and the confusion on Aline's face was obvious so I continued talking. "He asked because he wanted to know if you would consider helping them plan their wedding day" I said, and Aline's confusion immediately turned to excitement. She let out an excited squeal and grabbed her phone, informing me that she was going to message Jules and agree to help organise the wedding. She was half way through her text when she stopped and looked at me going "but you're his actual sister, why didn't he ask you to help organise. I sat up and looked at her going "because Emma wants me to give her away" I said, and Aline's jaw dropped open.

"Well, as you know Emma's parents dies around the same time our Dad did, and she became even more a part of our family. She sees me as an older sister, and that's why she wants me to walk her down the aisle" I explained, and Aline smiled. Sending her text, she leant against me going "I'm glad she chose you" and I smiled. "So am I. I cried when Jules told me, I hadn't realised Emma thought so highly of me. Anyway I always thought she would walk herself down the aisle" I said, and Aline looked at me, a small frown on her face. "Well of course she thinks highly of you, how could she not? You are an incredible woman and you care so much about all of them" Aline insisted. "What did I do to deserve you?" I asked before kissing her.


	7. Chapter 7

***Diego P.O.V***

It was the end of another long day at work, and like always, I didn't want to go home. I was a Forensic Scientist for the Police Force, which I loved, and despite everything I saw, it was the only thing that kept me sane in my mess of a life. I found myself watching the Blackthorn twins Ty and Livvy as they prepared to go home for the day. Livvy was animatedly talking to Ty, and Ty was invested in listening to what his sister was saying. The sight make my heart ache slightly, as it reminded me of days gone by, when I still lived in Mexico. Life had been simpler then, and I was close to the people that were important to me, but things had gone very wrong, very quickly. Cristina, who I had been in a relationship with and hoped to marry had suddenly left one night, saying that she had gone to England to get away from things.

My brother Jaime had left a few weeks later once he had finished school and no one had seen him for four years, when he attended University (and had found himself befriending and later living with Ty and Livvy's younger sister Drusilla). I was convinced he had joined the Illuminate as, despite everyone's questioning, Jaime hadn't said where he had been, leaving us to create our own theories. Cristina had gotten a job at the Alicante Institute, made a new circle of friends and had even gotten married to the twins brother Mark, and to someone called Kieran. Seeing them make her happy in a way that I couldn't broke my heart. So seeing the twins clearly being close as siblings should, and having the links to the people I loved broke my heart. I was trying to repair my relationship with Jaime, but Cristina had essentially cut me out, not wanting to open up old hurt. I had tried when I too, had come to England but to no success.

Not only my problems with Jaime and Cristina, I also had to deal with Zara Dearborn. Zara was a Politian, and unfortunately like so many in her profession, she was evil. We had met through a mutual friend, and she had latched onto me like a leech. Apparently she had been trying for some time to get involved with an organisation called "The Seelie Court" which my own family had links to. Due to it's secretive nature, it had gained a bit of a negative and untrue reputation. Zara had gotten it into her tiny head that by associating herself she would gain even more power which would propel her career. She had learned of my family's link to the organisation and tried to use me to help gain access. I knew no good would come of her joining, and she would actually give truth to its reputation and would use it for selfish reasons.

I'd lied, I had told her that only members of certain families could become members, and to my horror, that had only made the entire situation so much worse. She had put me into an impossible situation by blackmailing me: marry her and provide her access to "The Seelie Court" or go to the press and have them run a story on how my family was associated with this "terrible organisation" which would not only cause problems for me, but to my family. Knowing I couldn't allow that to happen, I took the only option I had and I agreed to marry Zara, and I hated it. But it wasn't just Zara's horrific political views and her hold over me that meant that she was an awful person, but the fact she had an old vendetta against Emma Carstairs, and Julian Blackthorn, meaning she wanted revenge, and was willing to ruin their careers and the school they worked at.

Zara, Emma and Julian had all gone to the same school, and to no one's surprise she had been a horrible person even then. When Zara had been getting big in the political world and had being campaigning for people's votes, Emma and Julian had gone to the press, and with Julian's sister Helen being a journalist, they had exposed her for the racist homophobe that she was, ruining her campaign and every one since as interviewers insisted on continuously bringing it up. It had massively affected her and I don't think she had it in her to forgive them. Since I had been with Zara, I had often heard her talk with those she worked with on how she planned on bringing them down, the way they had with her. Although she hadn't acted on her words, I knew the sort of thing she was capable of.

I'd tried to warn them. I'd dropped a few subtle hints with Ty and Livvy but because everything I had said was so vague and just a bit strange with no context, and because I wasn't very close with either of them, they just walked off having given me a funny look. Whilst visiting my brother, I tried to give my warnings to Dru, who had the same reaction as both Livvy and Ty. I didn't know how to be more up front with my warnings without making it sound like a threat. There had been once when, totally by accident, I had been visiting Jaime the same day Cristina and Mark (Kieran had been at work) had been visiting Dru. I tried to tell them, to warn them of Zara's threats for Emma and Julian, but to no such luck.

"And where is Zara dear?" Cristina had asked, and her hurt in her voice was obvious, not that I blamed her at all. "I came when I knew she was busy. She thinks I should cut ties and, in her words, associate myself with a better mix of people. I reminded her that Jaime is my brother and families don't just cut each other out" I said, causing Cristina to raise an eyebrow. We were saved then by Dru, who had entered the room. Mark and Cristina were taking her out for lunch and suddenly seemed all too eager to leave, much to Dru's confusion. I didn't know what else to do and I hoped to think of something before Zara actually did something, as I don't know if I could deal with the fact that I had known, and hadn't done more to prevent it. Little did I know what would happen just a couple of months later.

***Mark P.O.V***

Since Cristina had announced her pregnancy, we had been living in something of a bubble, which was full of ups and downs. The low points included helping Cristina with morning sickness and supporting Kieran when he had moments of weakness and convinced himself that he would be a terrible father, just like his own father had been. But there were also the times we were elated at the thought that we were going to have a child, that we were going to become parents. Cristina had confided in Emma about the pregnancy, and if her excited texts were anything to go by, she was happy for us. Having spoken to both Kieran and Cristina, I decided to tell Helen, and then wait until Cristina was three months pregnant to tell everyone else.

I had asked to meet Helen in "Sophie's Scones" for lunch, saying that I had some news to tell her. As it turned out, Helen admitted that she too, had news to tell me. I arrived to see Helen had already arrived, and once the greetings and hugs were done, and our food was ordered, we set about telling our news. "You first Mark" Helen said, taking a sip of coffee. "Cristina and Kieran have recently been trying for a baby" I informed my sister, causing her to put her mug down, raise an eyebrow and lean forward. I could tell she could tell where the conversation was going. "Well a few days ago, she realised that her period was late so she took a pregnancy test and it came back positive" I said, and Helen's face lit up in a huge grin.

"You mean…" she said, her brain needing me to say the words out loud, needing to hear the words confirmed. "She's pregnant, she's going to have a baby. Helen, you're going to be an Aunt" I said. Helen came round the table and pulled me into a tight hug. "Oh Mark I'm so happy for you. You'll all make wonderful parents" she informed me, then sat down, taking my hands in hers. "Oh I'm so thrilled for you all. Does anyone else know?" she asked. "Cristina told Emma, and I've told you, but we are going to wait to tell everyone else" I said, causing Helen to give my hands a quick squeeze. "Speaking of Emma, I guess now would be a good time to share my own news" Helen said. Taking a deep breath, Helen looked at me and went "she wants me to walk her down the aisle at their wedding".

This time, it was me who instigated the hug. I knew from her face just how much this meant to my sister, to have been asked to do this. "Given, like us, her parents are dead, I assumed she would walk herself down the aisle so it took me by surprise that she'd asked me to give her away" she said. I shook my head at Helen. She had no idea just how much she meant to people. "I'm not surprised at all. You've always been like an older sister to Emma, even before our parents died. It's obvious she loves you as family, and you return her feelings of a sisterly love. It's right that she's asked you. I'm happy for you both" I said, squeezing Helen's hand. We spent the rest of the lunch discussing our news with each other, and were genuinely just so happy at everything that had happened.

Once we had finished, and had paid, Helen linked her arm with mine, and insisted that she brought something for the child. "I have to take you with me, I can't tell Aline, it's not my news to share" she informed me, and I knew that, as much as she'd want to tell Aline the news of the child, she'd respect that we wanted to wait wanted to be the ones to share the news, so wouldn't say something. I think there would be a part of Helen hat would enjoy knowing some big news that Aline didn't know, even if this feeling wouldn't last longer than a few weeks. After some looking around, Helen decided on a toy owl for the child, saying that "I hope the child grows to be wise like their parents" which made me smile.

***Cecily P.O.V***

I knew I needed to tell Tessa what Jessamine had told me and Izzy about Nate, that he was only interested in Jessamine so he could get access to her inheritance, and use the money to bring down Tessa for her apparent interference in his gambling when they were younger. Jessamine also seemed to be under the impression that Nate not only seemed to have some powerful friends on his side (she knew about Axel Mortmain but suspected there were more) but would potentially go after the people that meant something to Tessa, including my brother, and there was no way I could allow that to happen. The group I had grown up with had all suffered enough as it was, and I would not allow there to be even more pain.

Will had run away from our home in Wales to London, believing that there was a threat over his head that those who he loved would die. Our older sister Ella had died the day after this had happened (she'd been killed in an unrelated hit and run accident, but Will hadn't known at the time, so it had been enough to convince him the threat was real) and had fled during the night. Jem had been ill, with what everyone had thought had been an incurable illness, and they didn't think he had much longer left to live, but thanks to a medical trial, he had been cured. Tessa had grown up in poverty and had left her home in America to move to England with the hope of improving her chance in life. Sophie had been assaulted in a previous job and had been left with a scar down her face.

Charlotte had face a lot of sexist challenges, with people assuming that because she was a woman, she lacked the "necessary leadership skills" and was constantly having to prove herself. Her husband Henry built robots and had been paralysed when one of his robotic experiments had gone wrong and had exploded. He had gone paralysed from the waist down and had to use a wheelchair. Gabriel and Gideon had lost their mother when they had been young, had to live under the shadow and reputation from their father, who was a far from being "a good man" as you could get. No, I would allow for these people to go through any more pain.

I also knew that telling Tessa the information I had about her brother would require tact, so I decided to call my brother, who had married Tessa. When I had first met Tessa, she had told me about her past and about her brother, and I got the impression that there was a strained relationship and that Nate was a difficult topic for her to discuss. I personally hadn't heard her speak of him again since that initial conversation, so I had no idea how she would react to me bringing up her brother again. When Will answered his phone, I decided to get straight to my point. "Will I need your help" I informed him, and I could hear him shift his position. I rarely called my brother for help so when I did he knew it was important. "What do you need Cece?" was all Will said, and I took a deep breath, trying to find the right words to explain myself.

"I need to know how Tessa would react if I brought her brother up. I need to tell her something important about him" I said. As much as I wanted to tell Will, I knew that Tessa should be the first person to know and who was told afterwards, and how they were told, should be decided by Tessa herself. "I assume this is important enough that you want to Tessa yourself directly?" Will asked, trying to assess the situation. I confirmed that it was, and there was a slight pause with Will thinking of his response to my request. "Take her somewhere private, where it's just you two together. Explain that what you have to say might be something she doesn't want to hear but you feel she needs to know and tell her what you must, then follow her lead. Nate is a difficult topic for her but not to the point where she'll shut down a conversation about him if it's important" Will told me. I thanked him for his help, and ended the call, allowing him to return to the book he was currently writing.

I sent Tessa a message asking for her to meet me after she finished work, and thankfully she agreed. I said I would pick her up and then drop her home when we finished talking. Pulling into the school car park, I didn't have to wait long for Tessa to arrive. Kissing Jem goodbye, she slipped into my car and looked at me. "What's going on Cecily?" she asked me and I could see the confusion in her eyes. I really didn't want to do this but I knew it was something I needed to do. "Let's wait until we get out of here" I said, and Tessa nodded in agreement. I drove for a few minutes then started talking. "Are you ok if I told you something of a delicate nature?" I asked and Tessa nodded slowly. "I was having a girls night with Izzy and Jessamine, and Jessamine told us something and you need to know" I started.

"Apparently Jessamine has been in a relationship with Nate for some time. Izzy and I had absolutely no idea, and were under the impression she was single. Anyway, things had initially been really good within the relationship, but things started to change. Nate would spend more time working and less time with Jessamine, and she had the impression he cared more about his earnings than her. One night, she overheard Nate talking to a friend of his, an Axel Mortmain. Nate admitted that he was only interested in Jessamine because of her inheritance and plans to use it to get revenge on you for getting involved with his gambling. She said she believes he has powerful friends because of his job and she wouldn't put it past him to go after those that are important to you as well" I said, and dared to glance at Tessa.

Tessa herself had gone very pale and seemed to be trying to collect herself. I didn't say anything for fear of upsetting her even more, and knew she needed time to think. "I knew Nate didn't like that I had tried to act with his addiction, but I didn't realise that it had gone as deep as it has but to be honest I'm not surprised and I'm glad you told me Cece. Does Jessamine know what Nate plans to do?" she asked, and I shook my head. "I've told you everything Jessamine knows but given the fact he's an accountant I would give an educated guess that he might do something financial" I said, and Tessa nodded going "well that makes sense". We talked a little more before I dropped Tessa home. Right now she had received some huge news and she needed to support of Jem and Will right now and I did not want to deprive her of that. "You'll let me know if Jessamine hears anything else won't you?" she asked and I confirmed that she'd be the first person I would tell if she did" which Tessa seemed to be happy with.


	8. Chapter 8

***Ty P.O.V***

It was my day off, meaning that I got to spend the day at home with Kit and Ruby. Ruby was still slowly getting used to the house, and to the people who came round frequently, which made me happy given how anxious she had been when we had found her and I had brought her home that first day. She'd loved the toys we had brought her and for going for long walks round our local park. I don't think she had been out much with her previous owners meaning that she was still exploring the world every time she went outside. Whilst I was at home, Kit still had a few things he had to do for work, meaning that he spent a couple of hours in his office working at his laptop. Kit often said that I worked a lot, but despite that he still worked hard himself.

Lit Kit, his father had run a business but wasn't always the most honest, and often did some shady work with criminals. He had gained secrets and that had given him power, and no one knew who he would stab in the back next. He often made deals with powerful gang members and when he failed to keep his end of a bargain with a particularly violent gang, several members had gone to his house and had murdered him in front of Kit, to "deal with him" and to set a clear example. Kit had not wanted to follow in his father's footsteps, despite going into the sane line of work. He'd separated himself from the criminals his father had worked with and those that had had dealing with him. He'd been honest and open about what he did, and had regained some of the respect that had been lost by simply being the son of "rook the crook" and I was so proud of him for that.

Where Jonny had always taken from those around him, Kit gave back. He raised money for local charities and allowed people to complete work experience with him, regardless of their abilities. I was very proud of him and had seen him evolve from an angry and traumatised teenager to a mature and responsible adult. I saw how hard he worked so when he eventually came out of his office saying that he was done for the day, I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. "Will you walk Ruby with me?" I asked from my position on the floor, where I had been playing with the dog in question. Kit nodded, saying that he'd wanted to change first, allowing me time to get my shoes on and get Ruby ready for her walk, which she seemed very happy about.

The walk we did wasn't a particularly long one. It was more to just to get us out the out and for Ruby to run about and use up some of the energy that she had. Kit and I just walked in a comfortable silence. That's what I loved about Kit, he never pressured me into a conversation if I didn't want it. I was just enjoying being outside and being in his company. When we returned home, I was surprised to see Livvy and Max waiting outside our house. Livvy had been working from home today, rather than being in the office, and Max, like Kit, often worked at home anyway. "Livs what's the matter?" I asked knowing that my sister wouldn't just appear at ours unannounced unless there was an issue. Livvy just looked around before going "Can we wait till we are inside before talking about it?" which made me realise that it really must be quite a big thing if she didn't even want to give any indication whatsoever about what was going on in the middle of the street.

Opening the door, the four of us and Ruby walked in, and once we were all seated in in the living room, Livvy took Max's hand, took a deep breath and started talking. "You know how perfect Diego has been making weird comments to us at work?" she started, and both Kit and I nodded. I'd often come home and told Kit that since Diego had realised who we were related to, he'd been making odd comments to me and Livvy which was how he knew what Livvy had meant. "Well I was talking to Max about them and he realised something" she continued, causing me to lean forwards. "He thinks Diego might be warning us about something, or more specifically trying to warn us to warn Jules and Emma" she explained, causing me to frown slightly. "Why doesn't he just tell us outright?" I asked. I didn't like it when people tried to tell you something but didn't actually tell you the thing they wanted to say.

"Max and I think that someone might have some kind of threat over him, and if it was found out that he'd explicitly told us something he shouldn't, then something bad might happen. But he doesn't want to say nothing so he's made his comments in the hope we would work it out" she said, and I realised that it all made sense and that I was annoyed that I hadn't worked it out earlier. "Who do you think is threatening him?" I asked. Sure there were people who didn't like Diego for him being too perfect, and our family was holding a grudge for what he did to Cristina, but he didn't seem the sort of person to have people threatening him. "Zara Dearborn" Livvy said, causing me to sit upright. "His fiancé?" Kit asked, the confusion in both his voice and on his face.

I'd come home one day and had told Kit of Diego's engagement to Zara announcement and Kit had been baffled. "Who would want to marry such an awful person?" he'd asked and I didn't have an answer. If she had some sort of threat over him, it would explain both the engagement to such an evil woman and why he didn't looked thrilled about it when he had told everyone at work. It was entirely different to how Jules and Emma had been when they had made their own announcement. "Yes, that Zara Dearborn. We all know the sort of person she is and given she is a politician and has power, she probably has means to threaten whoever she wants with enough force behind it, that even the likes of Diego will bend to her will" Livvy said.

"But she's been losing power since Jules, Emma and Helen released that exposing newspaper article about her" Kit said, and suddenly the realisation hit both Kit and I at the same time. Diego had been trying to warn us that Zara wanted revenge on Jules and Emma for exposing her as a racist homophobe which had had damaging consequences in her battle for political power, but she still had enough to mean that he couldn't outright tell us, should the information that he had done so get back to her that he had and she would carry out whatever threat she had over him. "Have you told Jules and Emma?" I asked and Livvy shook her head. "Livvy wanted to call them in warning, but we thought it best to discuss the matter with you, and to get your thoughts on it. To see if you agreed. No point worrying them unnecessarily if we've jumped to the wrong conclusion" Max said, which made sense.

"No it definitely makes sense and I'm annoyed that we didn't work it out earlier. But we still need to work out the hold Zara has on Diego and what she plans to do to Jules and Emma that was so bad that Diego was potentially risking something to warn us" I said, and the other three nodded in agreement. "I'm going to see if I can talk to him in private at work, even if I can't get him to tell us anything new, I can at least let him know we've finally understood the nature of his comments" Livvy said and I agreed. It was probably best that Livvy was left in charge of that conversation. For the next hour, we discussed possible theories about the situation, all of them as impossible as the next, before Max and Livvy left. We agreed to wait until Livvy had spoken to Diego before talking to Jules and Emma about what we knew, and I just hoped that it wasn't too late.

***Cristina P.O.V***

It had been a month since I had learned of my pregnancy and life was just all over the place. The only people close to us who knew were Emma, Helen, and Charlotte, who I had to tell considering she was my manager at work. The morning sickness was horrible and it upset me to see how scared Kieran would get that he would end up just like his own father had been but we did have some really sweet moments as well. Both Kieran and Mark had really started fussing over me and making sure that I was OK, and Kieran had promised to come with me to all my pregnancy appointments. Mark hadn't objected, going "you're the biological father Kier, its only right that you get to see how your child is doing" which had made us all slightly emotional. We'd also seen an increase in cuddle sandwiches with the boys cuddling me, which was lovely.

I'd recently started craving a specific type of sushi from a specific shop across from town. I'd had to check that I could still eat it, and because the type I wanted fit all the requirements, I was delighted that I could still eat it whilst being pregnant. Mark and Kieran had found themselves being sent across town to by me the sushi I craved, and neither of them complained in the slightest. I was so incredibly lucky to have them in my life and with me on the pregnancy journey. Both Emma and Helen had also made the habit of asking how I was doing and if I needed anything which I found really sweet of them.

Not wanting to leave everything to the last minute when I would be heavily pregnant, we had decided to start early and do a few things every months so that we could actually be prepared and enjoy the entire pregnancy. I had decided that I wanted to find out the gender of the baby was born and the boys were incredibly supportive of the choice. I'd even started to refer to the baby as Junior, and the boys had started to pick this habit up which I thought was really sweet. But I knew that once that once the child was born, they would need to be given an actual name and we could not be continually called Junior. I sat down with Mark and Kieran and we talked about possible names until we had both a girl's name and a boy's name so we were ready, regardless of the gender.

After a lot of discussion, we settled with Amelia Rose Blackthorn should I give birth to a girl and Jordan Arthur Blackthorn should I give birth to a boy. Suddenly having a name for the life growing inside made it very real, that this was actually happening. "We're actually going to be a proper family" Kieran had said, and seemed slightly in awe of this realisation, and I gave his hand a quick squeeze. "Yes Kier we are" I said softly. I could see on his face just how much this meant to him, having not really gotten on with his own family whilst he had been growing up, which was how he had ended up in the wrong crowd Mark had, where they had met. It had been Kieran making Mark see how it was so special that it was that he had a supportive family and had subsequently gotten them both out.

Even so early on in the pregnancy, I had found that I was resting my hand over where our child was growing, even though I didn't even have a bump yet. Kieran was also resting his hand there every time we cuddled which made me melt against him. I couldn't actually wait to be able to have a bump and feel our child kicking and moving inside of me. And even more than that I wanted the boys to feel their child kick so they could have some kind of link to them. I knew just how much it would mean to both of them, especially Kieran, to be able to feel the child that he had fathered.

***Jules P.O.V***

Emma and I had already made a start on planning our wedding, and every time we sat down to make some plans, I couldn't believe I was l lucky enough to sit down with Emma, who was now my fiancé and plan our wedding. We'd decided on what roles we wanted for people, and thankfully they had all accepted them when we had asked. Cristina had agreed to be Emma's maid of honour and Mark had accepted the role of being my best man. Both Aline and Ty had agreed to help us plan the wedding. Helen would be walking Emma down the aisle with both Dru and Livvy acting as the brides maids. We'd decided that we wanted Tavvy to carry the rings in, and hand them over to Mark at the appropriate time.

We'd also decided on a guest list which included a lot of our friends and people we worked with, and I had been working on the invite designs. Emma had told me I hadn't needed to do too much work for our wedding as she wanted us both to enjoy it but it was something I really wanted to do, and she could see that so allowed me to continue. Today, we had been going through what food we would be eating after we'd gotten married. Given that we were inviting a wide variety of people, we knew it would be impossible to find aa set menu everyone would like so we agreed a buffet would be our best option, so were sorting out what food to get as part of it. "Chocolate is a given" Emma informed me and I couldn't help but smile at her for that. "For someone who teaches P.E and is so into her exercise you really do have an obsession with chocolate" I said, winning me a kick in the shin from Emma.

We continued like that until there was only one thing left to talk about: the wedding cake. "I was thinking…I want to be the one to make the cake" I said, and watched Emma for her reaction. "Are you sure Jules? It would be a lot of work and I don't want you to get all worked up and stressed about it" Emma said, her concern clear on her face. I took her hand in mine, the one with her engagement ring on it, and brushed my thumb across her knuckles. "I want to. It would mean a lot to me to be the one to make it" I said and looked at her, and I could see the understanding in her eyes. We'd known each other our entire lives, and she knew I was at my happiest when I got to create things, whether it was with my art or with cooking and baking. "I know Jules, and if you want to do it then you will hear no more complaints from me" she said, getting herself a kiss from me. I really didn't deserve Emma and it was a miracle that she had agreed to marry me.


	9. Chapter 9

***Ty P.O.V***

It was my day off, meaning that I got to spend the day at home with Kit and Ruby. Ruby was still slowly getting used to the house, and to the people who came round frequently, which made me happy given how anxious she had been when we had found her and I had brought her home that first day. She'd loved the toys we had brought her and for going for long walks round our local park. I don't think she had been out much with her previous owners meaning that she was still exploring the world every time she went outside. Whilst I was at home, Kit still had a few things he had to do for work, meaning that he spent a couple of hours in his office working at his laptop. Kit often said that I worked a lot, but despite that he still worked hard himself.

Lit Kit, his father had run a business but wasn't always the most honest, and often did some shady work with criminals. He had gained secrets and that had given him power, and no one knew who he would stab in the back next. He often made deals with powerful gang members and when he failed to keep his end of a bargain with a particularly violent gang, several members had gone to his house and had murdered him in front of Kit, to "deal with him" and to set a clear example. Kit had not wanted to follow in his father's footsteps, despite going into the sane line of work. He'd separated himself from the criminals his father had worked with and those that had had dealing with him. He'd been honest and open about what he did, and had regained some of the respect that had been lost by simply being the son of "rook the crook" and I was so proud of him for that.

Where Jonny had always taken from those around him, Kit gave back. He raised money for local charities and allowed people to complete work experience with him, regardless of their abilities. I was very proud of him and had seen him evolve from an angry and traumatised teenager to a mature and responsible adult. I saw how hard he worked so when he eventually came out of his office saying that he was done for the day, I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. "Will you walk Ruby with me?" I asked from my position on the floor, where I had been playing with the dog in question. Kit nodded, saying that he'd wanted to change first, allowing me time to get my shoes on and get Ruby ready for her walk, which she seemed very happy about.

The walk we did wasn't a particularly long one. It was more to just to get us out the out and for Ruby to run about and use up some of the energy that she had. Kit and I just walked in a comfortable silence. That's what I loved about Kit, he never pressured me into a conversation if I didn't want it. I was just enjoying being outside and being in his company. When we returned home, I was surprised to see Livvy and Max waiting outside our house. Livvy had been working from home today, rather than being in the office, and Max, like Kit, often worked at home anyway. "Livs what's the matter?" I asked knowing that my sister wouldn't just appear at ours unannounced unless there was an issue. Livvy just looked around before going "Can we wait till we are inside before talking about it?" which made me realise that it really must be quite a big thing if she didn't even want to give any indication whatsoever about what was going on in the middle of the street.

Opening the door, the four of us and Ruby walked in, and once we were all seated in in the living room, Livvy took Max's hand, took a deep breath and started talking. "You know how perfect Diego has been making weird comments to us at work?" she started, and both Kit and I nodded. I'd often come home and told Kit that since Diego had realised who we were related to, he'd been making odd comments to me and Livvy which was how he knew what Livvy had meant. "Well I was talking to Max about them and he realised something" she continued, causing me to lean forwards. "He thinks Diego might be warning us about something, or more specifically trying to warn us to warn Jules and Emma" she explained, causing me to frown slightly. "Why doesn't he just tell us outright?" I asked. I didn't like it when people tried to tell you something but didn't actually tell you the thing they wanted to say.

"Max and I think that someone might have some kind of threat over him, and if it was found out that he'd explicitly told us something he shouldn't, then something bad might happen. But he doesn't want to say nothing so he's made his comments in the hope we would work it out" she said, and I realised that it all made sense and that I was annoyed that I hadn't worked it out earlier. "Who do you think is threatening him?" I asked. Sure there were people who didn't like Diego for him being too perfect, and our family was holding a grudge for what he did to Cristina, but he didn't seem the sort of person to have people threatening him. "Zara Dearborn" Livvy said, causing me to sit upright. "His fiancé?" Kit asked, the confusion in both his voice and on his face.

I'd come home one day and had told Kit of Diego's engagement to Zara announcement and Kit had been baffled. "Who would want to marry such an awful person?" he'd asked and I didn't have an answer. If she had some sort of threat over him, it would explain both the engagement to such an evil woman and why he didn't looked thrilled about it when he had told everyone at work. It was entirely different to how Jules and Emma had been when they had made their own announcement. "Yes, that Zara Dearborn. We all know the sort of person she is and given she is a politician and has power, she probably has means to threaten whoever she wants with enough force behind it, that even the likes of Diego will bend to her will" Livvy said.

"But she's been losing power since Jules, Emma and Helen released that exposing newspaper article about her" Kit said, and suddenly the realisation hit both Kit and I at the same time. Diego had been trying to warn us that Zara wanted revenge on Jules and Emma for exposing her as a racist homophobe which had had damaging consequences in her battle for political power, but she still had enough to mean that he couldn't outright tell us, should the information that he had done so get back to her that he had and she would carry out whatever threat she had over him. "Have you told Jules and Emma?" I asked and Livvy shook her head. "Livvy wanted to call them in warning, but we thought it best to discuss the matter with you, and to get your thoughts on it. To see if you agreed. No point worrying them unnecessarily if we've jumped to the wrong conclusion" Max said, which made sense.

"No it definitely makes sense and I'm annoyed that we didn't work it out earlier. But we still need to work out the hold Zara has on Diego and what she plans to do to Jules and Emma that was so bad that Diego was potentially risking something to warn us" I said, and the other three nodded in agreement. "I'm going to see if I can talk to him in private at work, even if I can't get him to tell us anything new, I can at least let him know we've finally understood the nature of his comments" Livvy said and I agreed. It was probably best that Livvy was left in charge of that conversation. For the next hour, we discussed possible theories about the situation, all of them as impossible as the next, before Max and Livvy left. We agreed to wait until Livvy had spoken to Diego before talking to Jules and Emma about what we knew, and I just hoped that it wasn't too late.

***Cristina P.O.V***

It had been a month since I had learned of my pregnancy and life was just all over the place. The only people close to us who knew were Emma, Helen, and Charlotte, who I had to tell considering she was my manager at work. The morning sickness was horrible and it upset me to see how scared Kieran would get that he would end up just like his own father had been but we did have some really sweet moments as well. Both Kieran and Mark had really started fussing over me and making sure that I was OK, and Kieran had promised to come with me to all my pregnancy appointments. Mark hadn't objected, going "you're the biological father Kier, its only right that you get to see how your child is doing" which had made us all slightly emotional. We'd also seen an increase in cuddle sandwiches with the boys cuddling me, which was lovely.

I'd recently started craving a specific type of sushi from a specific shop across from town. I'd had to check that I could still eat it, and because the type I wanted fit all the requirements, I was delighted that I could still eat it whilst being pregnant. Mark and Kieran had found themselves being sent across town to by me the sushi I craved, and neither of them complained in the slightest. I was so incredibly lucky to have them in my life and with me on the pregnancy journey. Both Emma and Helen had also made the habit of asking how I was doing and if I needed anything which I found really sweet of them.

Not wanting to leave everything to the last minute when I would be heavily pregnant, we had decided to start early and do a few things every months so that we could actually be prepared and enjoy the entire pregnancy. I had decided that I wanted to find out the gender of the baby was born and the boys were incredibly supportive of the choice. I'd even started to refer to the baby as Junior, and the boys had started to pick this habit up which I thought was really sweet. But I knew that once that once the child was born, they would need to be given an actual name and we could not be continually called Junior. I sat down with Mark and Kieran and we talked about possible names until we had both a girl's name and a boy's name so we were ready, regardless of the gender.

After a lot of discussion, we settled with Amelia Rose Blackthorn should I give birth to a girl and Jordan Arthur Blackthorn should I give birth to a boy. Suddenly having a name for the life growing inside made it very real, that this was actually happening. "We're actually going to be a proper family" Kieran had said, and seemed slightly in awe of this realisation, and I gave his hand a quick squeeze. "Yes Kier we are" I said softly. I could see on his face just how much this meant to him, having not really gotten on with his own family whilst he had been growing up, which was how he had ended up in the wrong crowd Mark had, where they had met. It had been Kieran making Mark see how it was so special that it was that he had a supportive family and had subsequently gotten them both out.

Even so early on in the pregnancy, I had found that I was resting my hand over where our child was growing, even though I didn't even have a bump yet. Kieran was also resting his hand there every time we cuddled which made me melt against him. I couldn't actually wait to be able to have a bump and feel our child kicking and moving inside of me. And even more than that I wanted the boys to feel their child kick so they could have some kind of link to them. I knew just how much it would mean to both of them, especially Kieran, to be able to feel the child that he had fathered.

***Jules P.O.V***

Emma and I had already made a start on planning our wedding, and every time we sat down to make some plans, I couldn't believe I was l lucky enough to sit down with Emma, who was now my fiancé and plan our wedding. We'd decided on what roles we wanted for people, and thankfully they had all accepted them when we had asked. Cristina had agreed to be Emma's maid of honour and Mark had accepted the role of being my best man. Both Aline and Ty had agreed to help us plan the wedding. Helen would be walking Emma down the aisle with both Dru and Livvy acting as the brides maids. We'd decided that we wanted Tavvy to carry the rings in, and hand them over to Mark at the appropriate time.

We'd also decided on a guest list which included a lot of our friends and people we worked with, and I had been working on the invite designs. Emma had told me I hadn't needed to do too much work for our wedding as she wanted us both to enjoy it but it was something I really wanted to do, and she could see that so allowed me to continue. Today, we had been going through what food we would be eating after we'd gotten married. Given that we were inviting a wide variety of people, we knew it would be impossible to find aa set menu everyone would like so we agreed a buffet would be our best option, so were sorting out what food to get as part of it. "Chocolate is a given" Emma informed me and I couldn't help but smile at her for that. "For someone who teaches P.E and is so into her exercise you really do have an obsession with chocolate" I said, winning me a kick in the shin from Emma.

We continued like that until there was only one thing left to talk about: the wedding cake. "I was thinking…I want to be the one to make the cake" I said, and watched Emma for her reaction. "Are you sure Jules? It would be a lot of work and I don't want you to get all worked up and stressed about it" Emma said, her concern clear on her face. I took her hand in mine, the one with her engagement ring on it, and brushed my thumb across her knuckles. "I want to. It would mean a lot to me to be the one to make it" I said and looked at her, and I could see the understanding in her eyes. We'd known each other our entire lives, and she knew I was at my happiest when I got to create things, whether it was with my art or with cooking and baking. "I know Jules, and if you want to do it then you will hear no more complaints from me" she said, getting herself a kiss from me. I really didn't deserve Emma and it was a miracle that she had agreed to marry me.


	10. Chapter 10

**Trigger Warning: Ash's section has in-depth descriptions of suicide so if this is something that would trigger you, don't read it. Remember that there are people out there that love you and if you are feeling suicidal, please seek out professional help.**

***Livvy P.O.V***

The day after Ty and Kit had agreed with our theory that Diego's comments were the result of Zara having some kind of threat over him, I made it my mission to speak with alone to confirm our suspicions. As much as we all wanted to warn Jules and Emma, we didn't want to warn them unnecessarily, which is why I needed Diego to confirm it. Even if he didn't say what the hold she had on him was, or how Zara was threatening Jules and Emma, we just needed to know that she was a danger and wanted revenge for them exposing her. Not wanting to make a huge scene of pulling him aside to talk to him, I knew I had to be subtle and not draw any attention to the fact that I was talking to him. Despite the fact we both worked for the police, I didn't really cross paths with Diego all that often as we worked in different departments, so my task of talking to him would be difficult.

As it would seem, fate was on my side. A case had come it, and both Diego and I had been drafted onto the same team tasked with solving it. I'd been given all the CCTV to go through to look for any clues. Having seen what I believed to be the last sighting of the person linked to our case, I decided to ask Diego for a second opinion, so that if it was, he'd know what he'd want to investigate when he arrived at the scene. Thankfully I had an office to myself, allowing me to concentrate which meant that I could talk to Diego without anyone listening into what I had to say. Having seen the clip, Diego had agreed that the person in the clip fitted the description we had been given, he turned to leave, so I took my chance to talk to him, not knowing when my next opportunity would be.

"Diego can I ask you a couple of questions? you don't have to say something other than yes or no, if it's not possible for you to say more" I said, and I could see him stiffen as he turned to look at me. He gave me a nod, as though to allow me to ask what I needed to. "The comments that you've been making to me and Ty, are they a warning for my brother Jules and Emma?" I asked, and there was a slight pause before Diego nodded, saying a simple "yes". I felt sick to my stomach, but knew I needed to keep asking. "Is Zara still angry at them for working with Helen to expose her as a racist homophobe?" I asked, and again I got a nod and a simple yes. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before opening my eyes and asking my next question.

"Does she want revenge?" I asked, needing to be sure about what we were dealing with. Another yes from Diego, and I could see the hurt in his eyes, but also relief that his warnings had finally been understood. "Last question. Has Zara put you in a situation you don't want to be and can't tell me anymore?" I asked, and there was a silence which made me think Diego wasn't going to give me an answer. But he looked me in the eye going "Yes" for the fourth time. "I won't say anything that will give you away Diego. Thank you for doing what you could" I said, and with a curt nod, he left, to discuss the clips I had shown him and to create a plan of action.

I sat at my desk, taking deep breaths and trying to calm myself down. Although Diego had given us no new information, he'd confirmed something I really had hoped hadn't been true. Zara wanted revenge on my brother and his fiancé for exposing the truth. Just when I thought she could get no worse, she just gotten so much worse. There was a knock at my office door, which was followed by Ty slipping in and closing the door behind him. "Diego says you might have gotten a lead" he said, and took a proper look at me. Ty might not be the best at reading people's emotions but he knew me well enough to know that I wasn't quite right. "Livvy what's wrong?" he asked, sitting in the spare chair I had in my office.

"I was able to talk to Diego in private" I started and I could see the realisation slowly form on my twins face. "He confirmed what he thought. We don't have any new information but we have enough to tell Jules and Emma what we know" I said. Ty gave me a nod and went "you should ring them on your lunch clip, and show me that CCTV clip so if anyone asks I had a valid reason for being here" Ty said, and I did. Our bosses weren't too keen on Ty and I meeting up for a casual chat, so we couldn't be seen to do so, and showing him the evidence gave him a legit reason for being seen with me and talking.

During my lunch break, which was conveniently at the same time as the school lunch break where Jules and Emma worked, I sat in my car and called Jules. "Hey Livvy" Jules answered cheerily after a couple of rings. He'd been in such a great mood since Emma had accepted his wedding proposal and I was about to ruin it. "Hey Jules" I answered and from the tone of my voice he could tell something was bothering me. "Livs what's the matter?" He asked and I felt sick. "Is Emma with you?" I asked, avoiding his question, and he confirmed she was. "Is it just you two in the room or is anyone else there?" I asked, and he confirmed it was just him and Emma in the room. "Can you make sure the door is closed and that you and Emma are sitting down" I said, and tried to keep myself calm.

"Livia what's the matter you are scaring me" Jules said as I could hear him closing the door and two chairs being pulled out. "Livvy what's going on?" I heard Emma, meaning I was on loudspeaker. It was the moment that I had been dreading but I knew they needed to know that they would need to watch their backs. "Zara Dearborn has been holding a grudge since you both exposed her in the papers. It's gotten to the point where she has been talking about wanting revenge. Perfect Diego is engaged to her and he's been giving Ty and I subtle, vague hints in warning but we've only just realised. We know what she is like and this sort of thing should be taken lightly" I said and I could hear Emma let out a stream of swear words. My feelings exactly. "Are you sure Livvy? Like I don't want to doubt you but I don't want to jump to conclusions" Jules said, and I could hear how much he didn't want to believe what I had told him. "Diego confirmed it this morning when I asked him about it" I said, and this time it was Jules who swore. "We should tell Mark and Cristina but other than that we ought to keep this to ourselves. The last thing we want id for Zara to find out we know and forcing her to act" Emma said and Jules and I agreed. We ended the conversation after that as our lunch break was coming to an end.

***Izzy P.O.V***

Once a month, my parents made the effort to get together and have a meal with the entire family, in the attempts to repair the past damage. It also worked as an opportunity for them to get to know Livvy, Simon and Clary better, as they were all in relationships with their children, which was how my Dad was currently talking to Simon about the album his band was currently on and my Mum was discussing Clary's latest art exhibition she was working with her Mum, who was also an artist and was where Clary's artistic talent had come from. Max, Jace and I were filling Livvy in with Alec's current love life. That's how bad Alec's love life, whenever there was any development it was a major topic for discussion.

Alec himself had yet to arrive, and I was starting to suspect that he might not actually turn up at all when the doorbell rang and my Mum went to answer it. From one look at Alec when he came in I could tell there was something that was bothering him, and a quick glance at Jace showed that he'd also picked up on it. Alec rarely seemed by phased by anything given everything that he'd experienced in both his own personal life and within his work, so the fact something had seemingly had gotten under his skin had to be significant. "Alexander is there a problem?" dad and it seemed that Jace and I weren't the only ones who could see my brother's distress. Alec nodded his head and went "I swear I was followed all the way here and there are a group of people loitering outside" he informed us.

Mum lived in a nice area, so the fact he'd been followed and that there were people hanging around outside was something out of the ordinary. I frowned, trying to remember if there had been anyone when Simon and arrived to actually notice, but I had been far too concerned with making sure my skirt didn't catch in the wind to actually take in my surroundings. It made me feel unnerved that they might have been but what really unsettled me was the conversation that followed Alec's comments. My parent's glanced at each other, and nodded, and they were both wearing a serious look on their faces. "We've been meaning to tell you all this for a while, and now seems a good as any time to tell you" our mum said. Clary, Simon and Livvy suddenly looked highly uncomfortable.

"Should….Would you like to leave? If this something you don't want us to hear it" Clary said, and the other two nodded in agreement. Dad shook his head. "You'll probably hear this from our children when they get home so it's probably best you hear it from us" he said, and we all sat down. "When your mother and I were younger, and had just graduated from University, we both ended up moving to the same area and being new, we didn't know anyone. We didn't even know each other at that point. There was a man who lived in the area called Valentine Morgenstern, and he made it his mission to make us feel welcome. Being young and naïve neither of us really questioned it nor thought he was anything more just being friendly. But we soon realised that there was a link between all the people who he had in his social group. We were all young, dumb and were desperate for a group to belong to. He gave us that belonging and with that he got our loyalty" Dad started. We were all silent, wanting to see how this linked to the information Alec had given us.

"There was quite a few of us. There was Hodge Starkweather, Stephen Herondale, Celine Montclaire, Michael Wayland, Jocelyn Fairchild, Luke Garroway and his sister Armatis to name a few" and I could see Clary sit up at the name of her mother and step-father. "Valentine called us his Circle and he claimed that he wanted us to work towards a fairer democracy for, as he said "people like us" and like the idiots we were, we all agreed with it and never questioned anything he said. But he changed the day his father had been murdered. Valentine blamed anyone who wasn't white on his father's death and he made it our mission to rid the country of ethnic minorities. He had us all in the palm of his hand and filled our heads with lies and fake promises so even if some people didn't agree with him, they thought it better to stay with him, rather than to turn our backs and leave" Dad continued and I'm sure my face reflected the horror I and everyone else felt. I had no idea that my parents had been part of a violent, racist group.

"We gained a reputation for ourselves and soon had police wanting us for what we had done. As a few of us had careers we wanted to keep, and had started getting different priorities. You were one Alec and Jocelyn was pregnant with you Clary and she was determined to keep you. We went to the authorities and told them what we knew about the group and about Valentine, resulting him getting arrested. He was good at manipulation and had very powerful contacts meaning that, despite spending time I prison, his sentence was a lot shorter than it should have been, and he has been recently released. He has resumed his work as a biomedical engineer and he has been able to collect a few people who still swore loyalty to him" Dad said.

"But what has any of this got to do with the guy who stalked me or the weirdo's standing outside?" Alec asked, and it surprised me that his head still had logical thoughts, because my own was a swarming mess of thoughts and feelings. "Valentine does not forgive or forget. He not only blames us for going against him and his imprisonment but for allowing both his children to leave his life. He wants revenge and to get revenge he wants to know where to hit us and really hurt. Meaning he's got his new minions stalking us so get as much information as possible about us, and it seems he has expanded his list of people he wants to keep tabs on to include our children" dad said. Alec had gone an unhealthy pale as all the blood drained from his face.

"Why does he blame you for his children?" Jace asked, and I had to agree, that part of the story did not make sense. "Valentine was older than us and before he got with your mother Clary he fathered a son he named Sebastian. Sebastian had a terrible childhood and he got in with the wrong crowd, and later got heavily involved in the criminal world. He gained power and ended up being the leader of a violent criminal gang. He married a rich woman and they had a son together, whom they called Ash. Sebastian was murdered a few years ago, and the people who were responsible for his murder were never caught. Given our jobs, he holds Maryse and I partially responsible, which had meant we are higher on his target list than some other people who betrayed him. It would also explain why he had become so interested in you Alec, as our oldest and our son" Dad said, and I'm surprised that Alec didn't vomit at that.

"Valentine and my mother got together? You said that he'd fathered this Sebastian before he got with my mother" Clary said, and I had realised that I had forgotten this detail, and this time it was my Mum who answered her. "Yes, he was quite taken by you mother, and they actually married. But your mother was one of the first to leave, after he got her pregnant and he became erratic, she filed for a divorce, and years later she married your step-father. She wanted to keep you safe Clary. We helped to keep Jocelyn safe from Valentine so he'd never find her, or you, his daughter" she said. Clary, naturally looked horrified. "My father was this radical maniac and I have a violent dead criminal for a half-brother?" she asked, and when my parents confirmed it, she ran off to the bathroom, presumably to be sick. Jace was quick to follow her.

***Ash P.O.V***

I had been at University talking to my personal tutor about the project I was currently working on to make sure I was on track and to go over a few things I was slightly confused about, and was currently walking back to the house I lived in with Jaime and Dru, who had both gone out. Dru was at the library doing some research for her dissertation and Jaime was at the placement he had to do as part of his course, meaning I had the house to myself for a while to try and get some work done. I had turned the corner to my road, and came to a halt. Standing outside our house were some people I hadn't seen since Sebastian (I refused to acknowledge him as my father) had been killed. I was about to turn around and leave, to go anywhere that wasn't where I was currently standing when they spotted me.

"Well, if it isn't dear little Ash!" One of them called, and I considered bolting, but knew that if I did, I would be making things so much worse for myself. If I was Jaime or Dru, I'd have come out with a witty retort, but I was not Jaime or Dru and I remained silent, like I had done for my entire childhood about the abuse Sebastian and his gang had inflicted on me. "We thought we would have a little chat, so why don't you let us in so we don't spend any longer out on the street in cold?" One of them asked, and I was too scared to object, knowing what they were all capable of. Getting to my door, I took my key out of my pocket and unlocked the door, and let these men into my house despite the fact that I really didn't want to. I had to focus on my breathing as I could feel myself starting to hyperventilate.

Without any invitation, the four men who had decided to turn up sat down and made themselves comfortable, with their ringleader putting his shoes up on the coffee table, leaving me standing and watching them, convinced this was a dream and praying one of my friends could arrive to help me. But this was not a dream and there was no Jaime and Dru, but rather people from my past who had caused me so much pain. "Do you know why we are here boy?" the ringleader asked, and I shook my head, unable to find my voice. "Your grandfather, Valentine Morgenstern has recently been released from prison, and given that your father is dead, he has taken a sudden interest in you. We did tell him you would be of no use to him, being the pathetic, stupid coward that you are but he didn't care and set us out to hunt you down. It took us some time but here we are. We will of course be informing him of your location and for reasons that are beyond us he will no doubt want to pay you a visit" he said. I knew who Valentine Morgenstern was, and what he had done. The fact that he was not only a violent maniac but a living relative to Sebastian, and clearly thought highly of him gave me a good idea of what he was like, and that scared me.

If he turned up, and knew where I lived, then Jaime and Dru were in danger. I hadn't had any friends growing up, nor had received any real affection from anyone, and given that Jaime and Dru were the first two people who had really cared about me, and had been a constant since I had met them when I had moved to University, I couldn't let anything bad happen to them. Having done what they had set out to do, the four of them left, leaving me feel so incredibly weak and vulnerable. Since I had confessed what had happened to me as a child to Jaime, and later my mum, I had been able to start getting better, and process what had happened to me all those years ago, but having seen the faces of some of my abusers and made me realise just how fragile and broken I really was, and I had broken beyond repair. I dropped to my knees, the panic attack I'd been holding off finally taking hold of me, and I lost control of my breathing.

I have no idea how long the attack lasted, but when I came out of it, I just didn't feel like there was a way out of it. I would not allow myself to being the abused little boy that I had been and I could not live the rest of my life living in fear that Sebastian's gang, or this Valentine would constantly be on the hunt for me, I felt like that I only had one option. Scribbling a quick note to Jaime and Dru explaining what happened and why I had done why I had done, I went upstairs with one of the knives we had in the kitchen, grabbed all the painkillers we had in the house, took them all and slit my wrists, and waited until I bled out. I could hear the door open and the voices of Dru and Jaime talking downstairs. There was a slight pause in the conversation and then I could hear the pair of them running up the stairs.

Given what I had done to myself, I was quite out of it when Dru came in, and seeing the state I was in and all the blood, she turned to Jaime going "I need you to call an ambulance" before coming to me, and simultaneously trying to comfort me and grabbing anything to stop the bleeding. I could faintly hear Jaime on the phone in the background, but I wasn't really aware of what was going on anymore. I don't remember the paramedics arriving, or the ride to hospital in the ambulance. I don't remember them dealing with the wounds on my arms, or pumping my stomach to get rid of all the tablets that I had swallowed. The first thing I remember is waking up in a hospital with my mother sitting at my bedside with tears streaming down her face. "Mama?" I managed to get out which caused her to stand up and take one of my hands in hers, and started stoking my face.

"Oh my baby boy" was all she managed to get out before she started fully crying, and I felt terrible that I had caused my mother so much pain. Eventually she stopped crying to be able to actually get words out. "Oh I was so worried when Dru called me and told me what had happened and about the note. I hate myself for not seeing what that monster was doing to you and not doing more protecting you. But I promise that I will do so much more to protect you" she said, and that's when a male voice from the door went "and so will we" and we turned to see Dru and Jaime standing there. "You gave us a scare Ash" Dru said as she came in and hugged me. It felt weird, to feel loved after so many years of not really having it. They stayed a bit longer before they had to leave, and given what I had said in my suicide note, I had to give a statement to the police.

Dru had also called her sister-in-law Cristina, who was a trained counsellor and she had agreed to talk to me and see if having counselling would be something that I thought would be something I wanted. Given how much trauma I had been through, and that Dru wouldn't let me near someone she didn't trust, I decided to give the counselling a go. I was also given medication for my panic attacks and anxiety, and after a couple more days in hospital I was allowed to go home. Dru and Jaime seemed to shower me in more love and support than they already had been, and Mum and I were both making the effort to improve our relationship.


	11. Chapter 11

***Kieran P.O.V***

I'd come from work, in a good mood, as I had done since learning that Cristina was pregnant with my child. But coming into the kitchen, I could tell something was wrong. Mark and Helen were both standing there, with a serious expression on their faces and I felt sick. My mind was racing through every possibility that could have made them wear the expressions they did. Cristina held an envelope out which had my name on it and the logo of my father's company in one of the corners. "This was on the doormat when we came home" she explained and I felt my stomach drop. My father had been a terrible excuse for a father, causing many of my own inner demons and anxieties on my own abilities to become a father, but thankfully I hadn't had any contact with him for several years, until now.

Taking the envelope from my wife, I sat down and opening it, reading the contents. I could feel the worried eyes of Mark and Cristina on me as they waited for me to say something, anything. To explain why I had been sent a letter that was linked to my father. I read the letter twice, trying to process what it said. I then looked up and went "I have a summons. From my father" I said, and even I could hear how numb my voice was. Cristina looked horrified, and Mark looked furious as he went "don't go Kieran, you know that no good will come of it" and I think he would have said more had Cristina not gently put her hand on his arm and calmed him down. "And what good will that do? You know he's not above sending people round to take Kieran to him kicking and screaming. If Kieran went himself he can do so with his pride and dignity" she said, and despite not liking it, I knew her words were true.

Cristina then looked at me, and asked "does it say why he wants you to go to him, after so many years of silence?" and I shook my head. "It just has a summons, and a time, date and location. But I could have an educated guess" I said. Neither of them said anything, allowing me to talk. "My father doesn't have friends, he has enemies. His own sons are amongst his enemies. He has always wanted an heir, to take on the company after he leaves, but he has done a spectacular job of both corrupting the company and pissing of his sons and apparent heirs. I wouldn't be surprised if this a way of him going "I've tried the others, you don't have a choice in the matter" despite the fact that I have no interest whatsoever in getting involved". Cristina sat in front of me, and took my hands in hers, and Mark stood behind me, and wrapped his arms around me, pressing a kiss to my neck.

"We'll come with you" Cristina insisted and I shook my head. I didn't want my father to destroy something that was so good and important to me. He'd know what they meant to me and use it to his advantage, causing them to get hurt and I would not allow that to happen. "No. He'll end up hurting you. He's already broken me so I'll go alone" I said, and I could see the sadness in Cristina's eyes as I spoke, but she didn't protest anymore. When the day itself came, they did what they could to calm me down, before I left. I felt terrible for Cristina, doubting the stress would be good for the baby. Arriving at my father's company building, I took a deep breath, remembering what Cristina had said about keeping my pride and dignity. Walking in with my head held I, I did my best not to show how much being here was affecting me.

I was escorted to my father's office, to find him behind a large desk, in an overly sized chair. He didn't offer me to take a seat on the chair opposite his desk, meaning that I was left standing, with my back straight and trying to seem stronger that I felt. "I'm glad you came willingly Kieran, otherwise this would have gotten messy" he said by way of a greeting. "I know" I said bluntly, not giving him anything, which won me a rather annoyed look. "As you know you were never my favourite son. I always thought of you as pathetic" he started, which was his way of saying he saw me as a threat, because people liked me and hated him. "But your brothers haven't given me much choice, with them all turning their backs on their own father, their own flesh and blood. That's why I have resorting to summoning you to my office. I need someone to take over the company" he said, and it was as I had predicted. I couldn't help but feel pride at my brothers for rejecting him, even if it meant that I had now been dragged into it.

Before he could continue, I interrupted going "no. I have a job and no interest in helping you or this company. It can go to help for all I care" I said, with no idea where this courage had come from. My father was furious. I could see it in his eyes but he managed to keep it together. "You have three jobs Kieran. Are you that poor that you must have to resort to such levels? By taking over from me you'll not have to worry about your own financial difficulties" he said, which almost made me laugh out loud by how far from the truth his word were. "I'm not poor father, far from it. My main job pays more than enough, and I do there other two less frequently because I like helping people and I enjoy the work. And as for thinking of my own personal finances in this place? I'd be too focussed on paying off your depts than being able to focus on my own funds. I have to agree for once with my brothers. I shall not take over from you father. Good day you" I said and turned to leave, but not before my father spoke.

"You will regret saying that Kieran. I know some powerful people and hurt everyone who matters to you. You will learn what happens to sons who disobey their fathers" he said, and with that I left. I don't remember leaving the building or my journey home. The first thing I remember was crying on my bed with Mark and Cristina, telling them everything that had happened. As the two people who were most important to me, there were at the most risk from my father. They just held me tight to them, saying that they would look after me as much as they could. They both loved me as much as I loved them, and hated seeing me hurting, so would do as much as they could to spare me my pain.

***Magnus P.O.V***

I had arranged a meeting at the Alicante Institute, to discuss one of their fundraising ideas that I was agreeing to help them arrange. As well as me, their head teacher Charlotte, Alec, Jem (their music teacher) and Simon were also in the meeting. I also wanted to use the chance to have a look around the school and see what they did, so I could understood what they did even more and really get behind the fundraising. I'd had it explained to me by Alec, and my childhood friends Ragnor and Catarina, but I wanted to see their explanations in reality. Just how they made the school not feel like a mainstream school and how they helped the students who attended. Charlotte and Alec gave me a tour, introducing me to some of the staff who worked there.

I hadn't realised just how many non-teaching staff were there and and important they were. A lot of the students had either behavioural or social issues, and that's where these staff came in. I was impressed at just how much work and effort everyone put into making the students as well rounded as possible, in not only their academic lives but their personal lives, and hearing all the success stories inspired me to make all the fundraising events as successful as possible to raise them enough money to not only buy the mini-bus they wanted to but to go to other resources around the school, like the sensory rooms and safe spaces that they had to help students came down when they had gotten worked up about something.

I arrived at the room where we were having the meeting to see that Jem and Simon were already there. Having introduced myself to Jem, we sat down, and started to talk. "When you had the idea of a Battle of the Bands, what did you have in mind?" I asked Jem, knowing that I wanted as many of the ideas to have come from those involved in the school as possible. Jem sat forward, clearly glad that I had asked the question. "Well seeing as many of the students have created bands as music is often a coping mechanism, we allow each of the bands perform a song of their choosing. Then whilst the winner is being chosen, have Simon's band perform and then have the winners announced" he said, and this started a lot of questions in my mind. "I assume this is a ticketed event" I asked, and the others conformed that this would be where a lot of the money would come from.

"What if we let bands from outside the school perform?" I asked, and I could see the confusion on the others faces, so I explained the method in my madness. "Well from looking around the school, and given the nature of those who come, I doubt that there are all that many students. And I doubt all of them are in a band, so my guessing is that although you have more than one student band there won't be loads. If people are paying to see their music, and it will be a competion, you want there to be a decent number of people contending. Meaning bringing other bands in. Also, if we bring other bands in, there will be a bigger audience, with their friends and families wanting to support them, and a bigger audience means more money" I explained and I could see the understanding form on their faces, that they could see the logic of my suggestion. "And the more people that know about us and what we do, having come, then it's possible they may wish to want to support us in the future" Alec said, and I could see the hope on his face, as well as how much the school meant to him.

"Excellent. I guess that point is settled, and I'll make a note to get my advertising team onto getting an advert for local school bands created and out there to gain attention. My next question: Do you plan on selling anything other than tickets to raise money at the event?" I asked, and after a short silence, it was Charlotte that went "we can't sell alcohol if that's what you were thinking" and I shook my head. "No it wasn't actually. What about merchandise? Could we sell some for your band Simon? Would it be possible for the students to create their own? I have contacts, I could have them professionally made and all the profits go to the school" I said. Simon was the first to answer "of course. My band and I would do anything to help this school and we'd be able to donate some merch. We could sign some stuff and could sell that as well" he said, and I wrote what he said.

Jem agreed that having the students to make their own band merchandise would be a good idea, and he would talk to the art teacher Jules to see if he could do something with them. "Gideon's married to Sophie, who runs a cafe. Could we see if she could bake something to sell?" Alec asked, and given how many times I had been inside this particular café, I was licking myself at not having that idea myself. As the other's nodded and murmured their agreement, I wrote it down. We spent the rest of the meeting discussing details, where the battle of the bands would be held, when it would be, the price of tickets and where they could get them from, who would people contact for more information, would there be a social media presence, would there be a prize and how we planned on advertising the event. We arranged another meeting in a couple of weeks to check on progress.

It was Alec who showed me out, and just as we got to the gates he went "thanks for coming today, and for agreeing to help us, it means a lot, to me and to everyone else" he said, which made me smile. "It was no trouble Alexander. Like I said I don't get to do many fundraising events, so to get to help such a worthy cause it good. I'm glad this place exists and I wish it had when I was a child" I said, and with that I turned and left to go to my car, but not before making Alec promise to text me when he finished work. I had enjoyed the evening we had spent at mine, drinking cocktails and I wanted to see more of him outside work. Returning to my office, I sorted through my noted from the meeting and went to my advertising team to get something made and the word out to the public. It had been a long time since I was this enthusiastic about an event and I knew that it had something to do with a certain black haired, blue eyed social worker.

***Cristina P.O.V***

It hardly seemed any time at all since I had found out that I was pregnant and I had told Mark, Kieran and later Emma. The only other two that knew were Helen and Charlotte but that was all about to change. I had reached the twelve week pregnancy mark, and if I was wearing a tight top, you could see a small bump starting to form. As promised, Kieran had been to all of my pregnancy appointments, and it made my heart melt to see his face when we had the checks and were told that the child seemed healthy. He'd even gotten an app which showed how big the child was and each week we would get an update on the size of the child. Once we had reached twelve weeks, on the day itself, I sent a message to the Blackthorn group chat, saying that I had big news and could we have a group skype call.

Beside me, both Mark and Kieran were practically exploding with their excitement. I think that both Emma and Helen had guessed that they would no longer have to keep their mouths shut about me being pregnant, and were trying (and failing) to control their excitement. Where I had kept it calm and fairly straight forward to tell Mark and Kieran, we were going to be a bit more creative to tell everyone else. Once everyone was ready, I started talking. "We have an announcement to make" I said and I could see both Emma and Helen squirm with remaining silent. "We each has a sign and when we hold it up you have to read it out loud and that's our news" I said and they all confirmed that they understood the task they had been given. Mark held his up first, which had "CRISTINA" on it, which they all read.

I then held my own sign up which simply had "IS" on it, and again they all read it, and then it was Kieran's turn. On holding up the word "PREGNANT" the Blackthorns seemed to explode in excitement, with everyone screaming and congratulating. Jules was shouting that he'd _known_ I was pregnant and had even asked me and I had lied and denied it. He then seemed to realise that Emma already knew and was annoyed that she had said nothing. It was a relief for them to finally know, and even more so that they were happy for us, and were finally able to share in our excitement. Not only that but they all seemed really happy having learnt they were going to be Aunts and Uncles.

When we answered all their questions, like who the biological dad was and the due date, we ended the call. I lay on the sofa, with my head in Mark's lap, and my feet in Kieran's. "Well that went rather well" I commented, as Kieran started gently running his fingers through my hair. "I am glad" was all Kieran said and we remained silent, all thinking about the child growing in the bump that my hands were currently resting on. We didn't even know the gender yet, and it would be a few weeks till me did, but we already knew that the child would be so lived and looked after but their parents and extended family. It made me smile to know that, and that they would never know what it was like to be alone or unloved. I also knew the child would be spoilt by that same family but I wouldn't complain.

***Diego P.O.V***

I was grateful that my warnings to the Blackthorn twins had finally been understood, but since they had, Zara had gotten so much worse, and I had no idea how much more I could take. She still had no idea that people knew about what she was planning, but that didn't make it any easier. She had found an accountant: a Nathaniel Gray, and to my horror, he too wanted to see staff at the Alicante Institute suffer, as his sister worked there as well as a few people who were important to her and he wanted to see their downfall for them apparently interfering in places that they shouldn't, and he had yet to forgive them, much like Zara's relationship with Julian Blackthorn and Emma Carstairs.

Over the next few weeks, things went downhill. Nate it seemed was a privately hired accountant, and meaning that he worked for a number of powerful people who all had two things in common: they were wealthily powerful, and they all had a vendetta to at least one member of staff at the Alicante Institute, and using Nate, Zara was able to collect them together. There was Benedict Lightwood a pharmaceutical engineer, who was angry at their Spanish teacher and his son Gideon, for making a threat to expose him to the newspaper, and Valentine Morgenstern a biomedical engineer who hated the high ranking Maryse and Robert Lightwood for betraying him and not bringing justice for his sons murder. Having learnt that they had a son of their own, Alec, who had set up the school, he'd made Alec his target. In Valentine's words, "An eye for an eye, a son for a son" which just made me sick.

There was the CEO of the Unseelie Court Company, and he wanted to make Cristina, and Mark suffer in revenge for his own son Kieran turning his back on him. He thought, like Valentine that going after people that someone was close too often hurt more for them than going after the individual themselves. And then there was Axel Mortmain, and industrial engineer who was a loyal friend to Nate and pulled the strings with Benedict, and he was the sort of person that, if you hurt those he cared about (in this case Nate) he'd hurt you. Given that they all came from different backgrounds, they all had different resources, wealth and influence to pull together to make themselves incredibly dangerous. And it made me sick that they all had so much anger and that anger was directed at a bunch of good people, who wanted to do good in the world and help those that really did need it.

I was never deemed important enough to attend their meetings in the house that I unfortunately had to share with Zara, meaning that I had to be clever in how I collected information and listened to what they discussed. I had a notebook I would collect everything: who came, who they hated any why and what they talked about. I hated it but it at least felt like I could be useful. If I knew what they were planning I could at least try and stop it. Nate was using his career as an accountant to mess with their finances and make the school go bankrupt and Zara planned to use her powers a politician to set them impossible standards and when they failed to meet their impossible standards she could claim that school had failed its students and needed close. As much as I wanted to find out what the others planned to do the school, it seemed that everything soon got the better of me and I wouldn't be able to.

Given that I was being blackmailed into my engagement and wedding with Zara and had to listen to a group of angry and hateful people plot some horrible things, the pressure and stress got the better of me and I had a breakdown. I had gotten home before Zara did, so I grabbed as much as I could carry in a bag, and left, going to the one person I hoped could help me: Cristina, even though I had a lot of doubt in my heart that she would close the door in my face and turn her back on me, as she had every right too. Ringing her doorbell, I felt sick and scared and as soon as Cristina opened the door, clearly only just got in from work, I burst into uncontrollable sobs.

I felt Cristina step out onto the street and gently put her arms around me, and guide me into her arms, and her closing the door behind us. She managed to get me into their living room, and asked for someone to bring a glass of water and some tissues. She waited for me to calm down before gently asking me what had happened, and why I had arrived at their door in tears. I was aware of both Mark and Kieran standing a slight distance behind her listening as I told her everything. I told how Zara had learnt of our families link to Seelie Organizations and how she used this information to blackmail me into marrying her, and how she had found people who also hated staff at the Alicante Institute and how they were planning revenge. When I finished, I looked at her going "I know I have no right to come here and you have every reason to turn me away given how I hurt both you and Jaime but I didn't know what to do" and in that moment I was scared she'd ask me to leave.

"It's your choice Cristina, it's you who has history with him. If you want to help him, we help him, and if you want him to leave he leaves" said Kieran, and all of us suddenly of us were looking at her. She looked at me straight in the eye going "you did hurt me Diego but I believe in second chances, so I will help you. You can stay in one of our spare rooms" she said, and I almost cried again in relief at those words. It was then I properly took in her appearance. She had a tight top on which showed a slight bump causing me to blurt out "your pregnant" which made her smile. "I am Diego" she said, as Kieran slipped behind her and gently rested his hands on the bump, letting me know he was the father. "I'm happy for you, I really am. You'll be an excellent mother" I said, and she smiled at that. "Mark will you show Diego to a room? I'm sure he will want to be settled after everything" she said, after there was a slight pause, and I was grateful for her words.


End file.
